The Doctor Will See You Now
by Lupe55
Summary: (Punisher x OC) About six months ago, Emily was taking a walk through the darkest corners of hell's kitchen only to be greeted by the familiar sight of Daredevil running across the rooftops. However, something was unusual about that night, because Red wasn't alone-he was carrying someone cloaked in all black. And before Emily knew it, that night would change her life forever.
1. Preface

**Frank Castle x OC**

 **The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own daredevil, the Punisher or any other character associated with the Marvel Universe. However, I do have ownership of my OC, Emily Crawford.**

* * *

Preface

" _Out of Suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars"_

 _-Khalil Gibran_

She didn't even know why she decided to take a walk that crisp early fall night. Maybe she couldn't sleep or she was just feeling restless that night. Even if one would have asked her, she probably wouldn't even know why she was out walking the dangerous streets of hell's kitchen.

It was one thing to be walking around hell's kitchen but this was no where she should have been. Her glasses along with just-beyond shoulder length and wavy strawberry blonde hair gave her the appearance of someone who should be living in the city. Her clothes added to the fact that she shouldn't have been walking around this late at night, given that she had a white lab coat on that doctors wore. Her clothing choice and looks stated that she was someone who should not be walking around dark streets of Hell's Kitchen and instead should have been cooped up in a hospital somewhere.

However, the girl felt at home here. She was born and raised in hell's kitchen and by all odds she had survived so far—but not without a fight.

Rounding the corner she came to an abandon lot that had started to see better days. Adjacent to this lot was a warehouse that everyone knew to steer clear of; given that the Irish mob was known to bring their enemies here to gather information.

All of a sudden, a panic whimper called out behind the girl alerting her that she was no longer alone as her train of thought was abruptly interrupted. Turning around, she saw a mutt cowering in fear behind an old, dirty dumpster. Not really a dog person, she wanted to ignore it but something in the eyes of the dog made her slowly approach it.

"Hey boy, I'm not here to hurt you" she whispered soothingly.

The dog braced itself for an attack, and rocked back on its haunches bearing its teeth while growling at the girl.

She quickly stopped her approach and lowered her eyes to the ground hoping that the dog understood that she wasn't trying to challenge him. She reached out a hand with her palm up and hoped that the dog would take it as invitation.

Hearing that the dog stopped growling and nails hitting against the pavement like he was walking made her look up. She came to see and feel soft fur meeting her hand that had been extended out towards the cowering dog.

"That's a good boy, good boy. Now what is your name? hmm?" she muttered to the dog.

The girl crouched down and while she was petting the dog she found a collar with no address or contact number—only a name.

"huh… well, I guess it is Max?"

The dog barked at his name and the girl smiled slightly.

"Good boy, Max. Let's say that we go and get you something to eat and try to find where your family is…if we can?" the girl stuttered.

The dog just stared at the girl with a sloppy smile painted on his face, tongue hanging out and all. She placed her hands on her knees and stood up, resuming the walk that she originally was on but cutting it short since she was joined by a furry companion on her heels.

Continuing on the dark sidewalks of hell's kitchen the girl just so happened to look up at the right moment while crossing the street. There was a flash of red and she knew who it was. The devil of hell's kitchen apparently had business on this side of the street—with the Irish. She saw that he had escaped from the department warehouse and assumingly he decided that running along the rooftops would have been better cover than not.

If he was here, then it would be best if she started to pick up her pace. Whenever she saw that man, bad things tended to happen in his wake and she did not want to be a part of it. She knew that she may be tide into it anyway, given that she had patched up the man a few times before, but she had a feeling that this was more than what she was originally thinking it was.

She watched as daredevil made a quick escape but noticed something peculiar as she was swiftly maneuvering through the back alleys to get to her shady apartment complex. The thing that caught her eye—the unusual part of seeing daredevil tonight was not that she saw him, but that he wasn't alone. It seemed like he was carrying another person.

That person that the daredevil was carrying would soon be a person that the girl would come to know surprisingly well—in more ways than one.


	2. Chapter 1

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Disclaimer: Language throughout (the entire story fyi)**

* * *

Emily was rounding the corner of her old and battered apartment complex after returning from her run. Her strawberry blonde hair swung side to side with each step she took. Bobbing her head with the music playing loudly from her headphones, it seemed that she was lost within the words of the song that was playing. She quickly maneuvered through the alleyway and turned left looking up at the fire escape as she jumped up and pulled down the ladder.

She preferred going through the "back way," as she liked to call it, to get to her apartment. She felt that with the sun setting in the distance more people than not would be returning home and she didn't feel like making small talk that evening. The ladder slid down to a manageable height in which she could easily just step onto the first rung and make her way up to the top of the rusty looking metal that clung to the side of the apartment.

Placing her right foot onto the first bar, she gripped the ladder bracing herself with both hands to make sure she didn't fall while climbing. However, due to her loud music, it seemed that Emily was oblivious of what was going around her as the sun evidently fell behind the buildings casting the first soft greys on the onset of nightfall. This made her an easy target, as she evidently found herself feeling a large hand wrap around her waist and yank her off of the fire escape.

Her headphones flew out of her ears as she heard herself audibly gasp. She had no time to scream as a rough hand covered her mouth and the arm that was wrapped around her waist held her in such a way that any sort of attempt of escape would have been worthless. She breathed heavily against the hand until she heard her captor speak into her ear.

"It's me Emily, don't freak out. I need your help."

And with that, Emily found that both hands had retreated from where they were on her body. She quickly moved forward and spun around taking in the red costume before her. She should have guessed.

"What the hell, Matthew? You couldn't have just said hi like a normal person?"

The man pressed his lips in a thin line.

"Don't call me by that name… You of all people should know that Emily—especially when I am dressed like this. And also, lower your voice… Someone that I don't particularly like may be out here looking for me. The last thing you and I both need is them finding out that you help me."

"Well, hello to you too" Emily mumbled to herself, knowing all too well that man who called himself the 'devil of hell's kitchen' could hear her.

The two of them stood facing each other as Emily finally regained back her lost breath due to her surprise visit from the man in red and her run. She saw that Matt was waiting on her, and it wasn't like she had a choice at this point.

Closing her eyes she spoke, "What do you need help with this time? I already gave you a name of a P.I. that would be able to get you more information than I would… Unless you want me to make a house call knowing that I am not in that line of work anymore" Emily questioned accusatorily.

Matthew shifted his weight from a fighting stance to one that was a little more relaxed knowing full well that the girl in front of him would help him—even if she didn't like it.

"There is a colleague of mine—well I shouldn't say colleague, more of someone who I have saved a few times and he had saved me. Granted, on the other note, we still have our disagreements, you could say."

"So you two tried to kill each other, is what you are trying to tell me here, but neither one of you have yet to succeed with that endeavor."

Matthew smirked and forcefully blew air out of his nose.

"That's one way of putting things" he responded.

Emily turned her head so she wasn't directly looking at man in front of her anymore as she ran her hand through her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. Matt coughed bringing her attention back to him and she now noticed that he had a small cut on his lip as if someone punched him.

"Anyway, this _friend_ of mine told me to leave him, but let's just say that I know he is in bad shape. And I know, I know you don't do this kind of work anymore—"

"You sure as hell know that I don't do this anymore Matt."

"—But I hope that you can find some sympathy from the bottom of your heart and that you would help him since you sometimes help me when I am in bad shape and—"

"Why don't you call Claire and have her help you out?"

"Well, like you she hasn't really been talking to me. Also, I have a feeling that my _friend_ is going to need more patching up than what Claire will be able to do…"

Emily took in a deep breath and weighed her options. She knew that if Matt came all the way here asking for her help and not Claire's then it meant it was something serious.

"Where is he?" Emily said sharply.

At least now she knew how Matt got the cut on his lip. This person had apparently told Matt in a more _physical_ way to leave. Emily sucked in a deep breath to try to calm her agitation towards her friend.

Mathew knew that he would have to make this up to her at some point given that the last time she saw him she practically threw him out with foul language after she stitched him up. She even lectured him on the fact that she wasn't his personal on-call doctor given that she worked as a mechanic of sorts now. Also, as she so nicely put it, the only reason why they know each other is that 'it just so happened that she decided to not leave his blood caked body in the dumpster so he didn't have to die in a pile of trash.'

Therefore, it had been about a month since he had last seen her, knowing all too well that she was starting to get aggravated with doing what she spent most of her life studying to do. Why she got mad at having to be an actual doctor and not just having the letters "M.D." alongside her name, he would never know.

"I think you should grab your med bag first."

Emily looked sternly at the man in front of her and then turned her head towards the fire escape and then back towards Matt.

"There is no way we have time to climb this, get my bag, and rush to go see this person. Especially since I don't know what kind of injuries this man has. Well, I am assuming it is a man, I am not trying to be prejudice here…"

"Well, I can go get it—"

"We need to go get him or her and bring them back here to my apartment. As much as I don't enjoy that idea, it is our best course of action since I know that they will be safe there. Plus, knowing you and all the people you get involved in, this person's chance of surviving is pretty slim to none—especially since you are here _red_."

Matthew sighed at the name she called him and just nodded his head to the girl in front of him. Sometimes he thought that she was the lawyer in their dysfunctional friendship and not himself. He turned and started to lead the way with Emily following close behind.

"Also, just so you know, it is a guy you are fixing up here. Hopefully that doesn't change anything," Matthew simply stated over his shoulder towards Emily as they picked up their pace.

She nodded in response knowing that Matt probably couldn't see the gesture. She had a wave of unwelcome nervousness wash over her in that moment and as soon it was there, it was gone.


	3. Chapter 2

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Quick Note here, but first off did you guys see the news from Comic-Con!? Daredevil was renewed for a season three and they released the first trailer for "Luke Cage," and they premiered the teasers for Iron First and the Defenders... the hype is real my friends! I was fangirling so hard last night when the news went online.**

 **Also, I wanted to say a quick thank you to those who reviewed my story (and of course all of you who have read my fic as well). Therefore, thank you to Random and the two guests who commented (and the lot of you who have read this fanfiction).**

 **Next, I guess I wanted to touch on the fact that yes, I know there are not many Punisher X OC stories out there and I got fed up with it to the point that I just decided to make my own to satisfy not only myself but the others who were in the same boat that I was in.**

 **One more thing, just so everyone is aware, I plan to update this story** _ **every Friday**_ **so once a week y'all should tune in (granted please don't hold me to that, I may have days where I may be updating on a Saturday morning or whatnot!)**

 **Anyway without further adieu…**

* * *

"Where the hell are you taking me?!" Emily gasped.

She look around and heard all sorts of men yelling while guns were going off in every direction. It also seemed like an arsonist's paradise with all the fire that was surrounding them. Matt had officially lost his mind taking her here. She had no special powers like he did so she had no idea why he was bringing her here. When he said that someone needed help she was naïve enough to think that it was just some punk that was beaten up in an ally. So when Matt extended his hand to her when they first arrived on scene, she didn't hesitate to take it and she hasn't let go since.

"It got a lot worse since I was here twenty minutes ago…"

"No shi—"

Matt held up a hand to silence her. That was when Emily saw the man in front of the two of them as Matt quickly pulled Emily down to hide behind a dumpster with him. They waited for the man to move before they moved on, but instead of that happening, more decided to group up.

"Where the hell did he go!" the one that the pair were originally waiting on spoke to the seven other men around him.

"Man, he has to be around here somewhere, we got him a few times and not to mention that Yuri did give him a good beating."

"Well my advice to all of you is that we fucking find him and finish the job…"

That was when Emily tuned out the rest of the group's conversation. She was trying to choke down the bile that rose in her throat as she felt sweat start to form on the back of her neck wetting the hair that was there. She knew that Matt could probably hear her heart racing a mile a minute, but strangely she was in control of all her movements. Never once did she allow herself to stop thinking.

"We need to move. I am going to take on these guys and I want you to run to that water tower over there and climb to the top" Matt spoke harshly into Emily's ear bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Wait… what?" Emily stuttered.

"These guys are not going to be moving any time soon and I have a feeling that they are going to be making their way down towards us sooner rather than later. So, I want you to count to ten and run as fast as you can to the water tower," Matt pressed his back into the dumpster so Emily could slightly see where she was supposed to run to.

Emily just nodded in response to his plan.

"After ten seconds, no matter what is happening with me, I need you to run. I am assuming that the person we mutually need to find is on the platform that connects the water tower to the top of the building that it is next to."

"Okay, but is this really going to work? I mean I am assuming that they have guns and all…"

"Leave that to me Emily, I will make sure that you will get out of here without a scratch on you."

Emily stared intensely at the man in red and let go of his hand. He nodded towards her and quickly pivoted so he was standing up and he started to walk towards the group that consisted of the eight men they heard earlier. So taking a deep breath, Emily started to count.

'1…2…3…'

"What the hell, I thought this guy wasn't working tonight…"

"Guys it isn't a big deal, there is eight of us and one of him…"

'4…5…6…7…'

That was when bullets started to fly everywhere. One even managed to hit the metal that kept the lid closed on the dumpster. Emily sucked in more air and shut her eyes and forcefully kept them closed. So much so that they started to hurt.

'8…9…10…'

Emily threw caution into the wind and exhaled her breath while opening her eyes. She quickly came out from the safety of her hiding place and started to run as fast as her feet could carry her. She noticed almost instantly that already three men were knocked out and on the ground and that Matt only had to worry about five more coming at him.

However, when she was looking at the men, they noticed her as well. She made one last glance at Matt as she continued to pound her feet into the pavement. She could hear the guns go off and see the missed shots that were directed at her. She also could hear Matt screaming at her to run.

Evidently she was not running fast enough as a man caught up from behind her and grabbed her hair, pulling her harshly down so she landed on her back, which forced out all of the air out of her lungs. She started to roll around on the ground with tears in her eyes. Her lungs were on fire.

"You shouldn't have come here girly… Now I have to go do something that I really didn't want to do tonight" the man slurred while pulling a gun out.

He knelt down and placed the cool metal against her forehead. Hot tears spilled from the corner of her eyes. She couldn't breath and so she couldn't scream for help. Matt had his hands full and the funniest thing of all was that for once she didn't have a thought cross her mind, she was actually absurdly calm. All she took in was that there was a gun pressed against her head and that this was probably going to be her last night on this earth.

"You picked the wrong side tonight girly, any last words?"

She struggled to take a breath and shut her eyes feeling more water pull at the corner of her eyes. This time she didn't know if it was tears or sweat, maybe even a mixture of both. She heard a click of the safety come off and waited to hear the sound that would end her life.

* * *

Emily waited for the sharp air of darkness to overwhelm her senses, but it never came. Opening her eyes slowly, she made her chest rise and fall realizing that she had regained the breath that she had once lost. She quickly sat up clutching a hand to her chest. Firstly, she noticed the man who had pulled her down to the ground. His body was distorted in a weird position as blood started to pool from his head.

Upon closer inspection, Emily found that the man that threatened to take her life had two bullets through the skull. The placement of the marks that oozed with blood right where he was threatening Emily he would put a bullet in her own skull. She looked around and saw that Matt still had people he was dealing with, as the men had seemed to multiple from the original eight he was battling. Plus, she knew better than that, Matt wasn't one for guns—or killing people for that matter; which made her come to the conclusion that he wasn't the one who had saved her life.

Emily maneuvered herself so she was standing up and started to jog towards the place where Matt originally wanted her to run to. She was almost there when she found the second piece of the puzzle. As she reached the rusty metal that was attached to the water tower, she saw something that looked like a silencer. But this was not any normal kind of silencer, this was something you would put on a military grade weapon.

She took a deep breath and started to climb up to the top of the side of the water tower. When she rose to a decent height she decided to look for Matt when she heard his voice behind her.

"Keep Climbing, don't stop. I made sort of a loud announcement that I was here and I am sure that more men will be here at any moment," Matt panted out.

Emily felt Matt tap the heel of her foot to indicate to climb faster then what she was originally doing. Finally, the two of them reached the top of the tower. Emily didn't fail to notice the weapon that saved her life. Granted, there was no man there using his own weapon. Matthew grabbed a hold of Emily's hand again without her realizing it and pulled her closer to the metal platform.

Before they jumped, Emily tugged back on Matt's hand making him halt, "We need to grab his gun. I know that those aren't easy to find here, especially since that is military-issue only, and I have a feeling that it may come in handy for him later…"

"Emily, we don't have time for this" Matt bickered.

However, Emily had already broken their connection and jogged back to where the gun was stationed. She quickly picked it up and put the strap around her body, twisting the gun so it hung on her back. While she was doing this she maneuvered her way back to where Matt was still standing.

Matt didn't say a word to her as she slipped her hand into his once more. They carefully jumped onto the metal scaffolding that connected the broken-down water tower to the building next to it. Once their feet hit, they took off running following the slight drops of blood that were trailed on the ground. Matt led the way across the vacant rooftop as they reached a door with a flickering green 'exit' sign above it. He pushed Emily behind him and kicked open the door only to be met with a grunt. There was something blocking the door.

"Emily, I need you to stand back. I have a feeling that Frank is using his body to block the door…"

Emily was a little taken aback at the fact that Matt knew what this person's name was. Typically, this wasn't the case. Generally, Matt and his _friends_ exchange a few punches and that was that. But it wasn't the fact that Matt actually knew this name, it was more of the fact that this name seemed to be like an itch in the back of Emily's mind that she couldn't scratch. She knew she had heard that name off of Matt's tongue before but she just couldn't place it.

"Are you sure you will be able to get in?"

"I'm not sure but I am sure as hell going to try."

Emily watched as Matt threw all of his weight against the door. Emily saw that the two of them were not going to be able to get through the door while this Frank character was in the way. Even though Matt told Emily to stand back, she, without thinking, moved towards the door and tried to help Matt push it open.

"Emily, I told you to stand back."

"With all due respect, _red_ , the two of us are not getting through this door at the moment. So let me go through."

"Emily, I am not going to let you do that. There may be other men in there and I—"

"It doesn't matter. You brought me here to do a job and that is what I intend to do. I can fit through the cracked door and make 'Frank' move. Then you can get in, grab him, and we can get the hell out of here… I really see no other choice here, _red._ Plus, I have a gun remember?" Emily explained frantically.

Matt sighed and placed his foot in the opened space that he had already made so he could get a better vantage point in order to try and open the door a few inches more, so Emily could squeeze through. Emily took off the gun that was on her back and shifted it through the opening while she stepped over Matt's foot. Turning herself sideways, she wedged herself between the door and the wall. Shimming through the crack she made it through and entered the dark stairwell that was being lit up by fluoresce emergency lights.

Looking down at her feet, she saw that she was standing in a puddle of dark, almost black, blood. She turned her head to the left looking at the platform where the door was connected and saw a body coated with armor. However, the image that was on the armor was the thing that shocked her. The black armor had a white skull painted across it. This was no ordinary person that Matt wanted her to help.

This was the man who was supposed to be dead. This was the man who was given the name "the Punisher". This man is the man whose name is one of infamy to Hell's Kitchen's residents. He was no other than the man named Frank Castle.


	4. Chapter 3

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 3**

 **I just want to say a quick thank you to Random and my guest Lucy who commented last time. Both of your comments made me smile ear to ear, so thank you for that!**

* * *

Emily stood frozen in place staring at the man in front of her. He was losing a lot of blood quickly, and his panting proved that he had a least a fractured, if not broken, a rib or two. She remembered all of the news reports. All of them depicting the horrible acts that this man had done, how his short temper got him placed in jail, and how not long after he was place there, he broke out. However, she never once held that against him, given all that this man had been through. He may have sought out revenge in a manner that she may have not completely agreed with, but she understood why he did it; he was no monster to her.

Taking a deep breath Emily closed the gap between the two and knelt down after she placed the gun back on her back.

"Hey Frank, My name is Dr. Emily Crawford and our mutual friend, red, brought me here so I could check up on you. I am going to reach for your wrist now and measure your pulse if that is okay with you?"

Frank never responded to her. In fact he didn't even look up. Emily took this as a bad sign. A vigilante like him would be all up in arms if a new face saw that he was actually alive. Gingerly, Emily took Frank's wrist and tried to feel for a pulse. She found one, but it was getting weaker by the second.

"How we looking in there Emily?" Matt whispered through the slightly opened door.

"It isn't looking good. We need to get him out of here now. He isn't responding to me even when I check for a pulse, and I take it that that is a bad thing from this guy since he punched you when he saw you."

"Heh, you saw that cut huh?" Matt retorted.

"I may be retired, but I'm not blind."

"I just thought you were taking a break, not that you were retired—"

"It's the same thing in my book. Anyway, this is not the time for that conversation. I am going to try to move Frank over so that way you can get in because I am not going to be able to move this man. I hope you will be able to…" Emily stated simply trying to dodge Matt's previous question.

"Yeah, I should be able too, I've done it twice now."

Emily didn't pay any attention to Matt's comment and stepped over Frank's legs. His breathing was getting shallower and Emily knew that they didn't have time to waste. If she couldn't fix him up in the next fifteen to twenty minutes, this man was going to die.

Emily placed one of her hands underneath Frank's bicep and laid her other hand on top. She counted to three, spread her feet apart, and pulled Frank's body towards her will all the strength she processed from her small frame. She was able to move the man enough that Matt was able to push through enough to get through.

Matt looked between Emily and Frank noting that they were going to have to pull out a miracle if Frank was going to be getting out of here alive.

"Matt, I need you to grab him. He has lost a lot of blood and I have a bad feeling that one of his ribs is dangerously close to his lungs…"

"You made all of that analysis by just being in here for under two minutes?"

"Matt we can talk about my doctoring abilities later, but right now we have more important things to worry about."

Matt nodded his head and felt around to see which way would be the best way to carry Frank out of this mess. He had to take into consideration that the normal fireman's hold may be too catastrophic to his body, but there was no other way. Frank had a good fifty pounds on him. So, Matt, as carefully as he could, perched Frank on top of his shoulders as Emily pointed out that he couldn't jostle Frank around too much while he was carrying him since it might harm his body even more.

Matt stood up with Frank on his shoulders and looked at Emily indicating that he was ready to escape back to her apartment.

"So how do we get out of here? I am assuming that we can't go the way we came given the condition of Frank so—"

"We are just going to have to go down the stairs and hope that whatever God is out there, is looking down on us tonight. Because I don't think that I will be able to get you and Frank out of here, both alive and intact if I have to fight as well…"

Emily sucked in her cheeks and dismissed the thoughts of worry she was having. She grabbed the nozzle of the gun she was holding and swung it around in front of herself. She took a second to look at the mechanics of the gun and clicked off the safety after checking how many rounds were still left in the magazine.

"Okay, let's go then…"

* * *

"Matthew, I need you to place him on the couch right in the entry way there after we pass through my office" Emily yelled at Matt while they were running through the dark hallway that lead to her apartment door.

"Emily I hope you know what you are doing here because I am not feeling him breathe anymore!" Matt stated simply back.

Emily rushed ahead of Matthew and jumbled threw her keys so she could unlock her apartment door. She found the first key just in time, as Mathew walked in as she opened the front door for him. Letting the door shut on its own, Emily ran in front of Matt and opened the next door that lead to her three bed room apartment.

The location of her apartment was one that not many people would even consider to live in unless you had a death wish, but the rent was amazing for the amount of space she received. Emily followed Matt and watched as he placed Frank on the couch which she instructed him to do.

"Okay, I need you to go get me my medicine bag and after you drop that off please go find me a rag and get me some hot water."

Matt didn't respond as his only thoughts were to do what she was telling him to do. While Matt went off to gather her medicine supplies, Emily started to take off Frank's armor and shirt to get a better look at what she was going to be dealing with. On first glance, it didn't seem too terrible.

It looked like he had two broken ribs and three bullet holes. However, Emily quickly rolled Frank over on his side to see if the bullets had actually went through his body, and to both of their luck, only two went through; not all three. Not to mention, that the heavy plastic backing of Frank's armor seemed to have come off while he was shot, and sliced into his flesh. Emily also noticed that there was even some hard plastic left in the wound. Taking a deep breath she heard Matt drop off her medicine bag and went to go get the water and rag she requested.

First and foremost, she had to go in and take the bullet out that was lodged in left his side, or Frank would die from the loss of blood. Then, she could worry about that nasty and deep cut by the slug that she had to dig out and the other two bullet wounds in his right shoulder.

"Matthew, get over here, forget about the water!" Emily hissed.

Matt was by her side in an instant.

"Firstly, what blood type are you?"

"I think I am like A negative or something like that."

"You think or you know?" Emily questioned hastily.

"I think Emily…"

Emily closed her eyes and decided that she would just have to use her own blood to make this work.

"Okay Matt, I need you to hold Frank sideways, just as I am now. I am assuming that the bullet hasn't lodged itself in a weird area given that he was wearing armor. However, I need to get a blood drip going and I am going to use my own blood for this. So we are going to have to work fast here, this is a race against time…"

Matt just looked at her with a shocked expression.

"Emily I can't let you do that. Plus how can you even know that his blood is the same as yours?"

"I don't but mine is safer because I am O positive. He has lost too much already and we need to do this or he will die Matt."

Matthew nodded in her direction as Emily went into her medicine bag and grabbed a scalpel, the IV tubes for the blood exchange, and a pair of pliers to go and pull out the bullet. She quickly placed the scalpel and pliers in Matt's hand that he had extended out as she wrapped a piece of rubber around her bicep. She hurriedly pricked the inner part of her elbow and started to draw blood. Placing one end of the tube on to the needle in her arm, she did the same procedure to Frank's own arm.

She had just managed to prick him and connect the tubes just before the blood started to transfer into Franks own arm. She made sure to use her left arm, as then it would be easier to do the rest of the procedure. Grabbing the other instruments she originally handed to Matt, she told him to move Frank just a little bit forward.

"Okay, for the next ten minutes, not under any circumstances are you allowed to let his body move," Emily sternly told Matt.

In the past few years that he had known Emily, he had never seen her like this. It was as if someone else had taken over, and she was on a mission to make sure that she put all the pieces back together so the object in front of her would work as if it was brand new. If this was how she was when she didn't have a medical team next to her and her own operation room, he couldn't imagine how good she would be if she was actually in a hospital again.

* * *

"You know I can stitch up myself, you should really be getting some rest. You look exhausted…"

Emily looked up at Matt. He was sitting on her kitchen counter with his mask off as she was tending to the cuts that he received during his fight last night.

"I thought you were blind, Mr. Murdock. You aren't supposed to say things like that."

Matt softly chuckled at her remark.

"I may be blind, but you just ran through a battle field, preformed a surgery, and all while giving blood to the man you were trying to save. So I may not be able to _see_ that you are tired but I know that you probably are."

Emily let out a soft laugh.

"Matthew, thank you for the concern, but you and I both know that I don't sleep very much, if at all. So I am used to feeling and _looking_ exhausted."

"I know but I have a feeling that you are probably going to need all the rest you can get now, while you still can" Matt said while motioning to the body that was recovering on the couch.

Emily sighed, "That reminds me, why you didn't tell me that I was going to be helping Frank Castle?"

"Well, honestly?"

"Yeah."

"I thought that you wouldn't come if I told you that I need your help saving the punisher…"

Emily looked at Matt as his eyes remained facing forward towards the wall.

"I guess you are probably right. Especially since I keep trying to get out of that line of work and you somehow just keep bringing me back in…"

"But Emily, you are so good at this stuff. I know that you were a top trauma surgeon at New York-Presbyterian University Hospital and I know what happened a year ago and it wasn't—"

"Matthew, you need to stop talking about things you don't know anything about. This is the exact reason why I kicked you out of my house last time and this is the first time I have seen you in a month. Let's just please skip this conversation, okay?" Emily angrily retorted.

At her remark, the two of them fell into an awkward silence as Emily continued to stitch up his wounds. She didn't want to talk about her past and she didn't want to hear how good she once was. Right now, all she wanted to do was live a simple life fixing the stuff that people seem to break. She started to fume over her own thoughts and accidently started to tie off the thread too tight on Matt's wound.

She took a deep breath and started to resume her work, given that she was mad at person in front of her, but she shouldn't take it out on him when she was trying to fix him up.

"Claire wanted me to tell you that she says hello and to ask if you are staying healthy the next time I saw you" Matt whispered.

Emily paused for a brief moment but continued on, as if Matt didn't say anything. She snipped the thread once she was done tying it off as Matt shrugged down his sleeve. Claire was one of the people that Emily had actually gotten along with when she was working at the hospital. The two of them were basically inseparable even though they were nurse and surgeon. Claire would always tell her crazy stories about her patients while Emily shared stories of all of the interns who thought they were going to be the next great thing.

"Thank you Emily, for your help."

Emily placed the rest of medical supplies in her bag and zipped it up not bothering to look back at Matt. She walked over and placed her bag on top of the usual spot on her dresser. The walls were bare in her room and the only splash of color was the plum-colored comforter on her bed which matched the wood frame she had her bed on, and the wood dresser she was currently standing in front of.

She stole a quick glance at herself with the mirror that was just above her dresser and Matt was right, she did look exhausted and this was the first time she realized that she really needed a shower. Not only was her clothes caked with dirt, grime, and dried blood, but also her hair was a sight to behold. It was as if Medusa was staring back at her.

Emily stood there and sighed deeply. She would take a shower once she saw Matt off and she double checked on Frank again. Emily walked back out of her room and saw Matt cleaning up some of the wreckage that was made from the previous events that had transpired.

"Thanks for your help, but I got it from here."

Matt stopped doing what he was doing and stood facing the girl from across the room.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay. I have your number if I need to contact you plus," Emily glanced at the clock that was on the wall behind Matt's head, in the kitchen, "you need to be at work in roughly four hours since it is three in the morning now."

Matt listened to the ticking of the clock and never actually realized how late it had gotten.

"Yeah, I need to try to get some sleep and wash up. Nelson and Murdock are accepting some new clients today and you know Foggy…"

"Heh, yeah I do." Emily stiffly chuckled.

Emily watched as Matt placed his mask back on and nodded towards her as he started to head out the front doors of her apartment. She heard both doors close and went to double check that the doors did actually lock. Twisting the lock on her front door that led into the hallway of her apartment, she confirmed that it was locked.

She was finally alone after all the events that happened this past night and she felt her knees buckle under her as she quickly turned so her back slide down the dark wood of the door. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself, as she tried to make it so she could be as small as possible. She eventually dropped her head onto her arms and thought through the events of the day as she sat there shaking uncontrollably.


	5. Chapter 4

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Hey Everyone! Hopefully you had a great week and all of that stuffs. Anyway thank you to Random and my Guest Lucy who reviewed the past chapter, I really appreciate it and as always, the two of you put a smile on my face!**

 **Also, another note here, I tried to write this chapter a multitude of times but alas, I got frustrated and I think this is the best I can write this chapter at the moment. Sorry if there are any typos.**

* * *

Emily stood there under the rushing water of the shower head. She let it run over her hair and back washing away all of the grime that had been there from the day before. Unfortunately, she had fallen asleep curled up in a ball in her office and her body was stiff. Not to mention that all the dirt that was on her body seemed to dry and crust onto it, so it took a good scrubbing to get it off.

She ran her hands through her hair one last time and turned off the shower. Opening the door, she stepped out onto the bathmat and grabbed her towel so she could dry off and not track water all over her apartment. Wrapping her towel around her body, she let out a deep sigh while opening up her medicine cabinet to grab her tooth brush. She quickly put toothpaste on the bristles and started to brush her teeth. Even though she was in front of the fogged up mirror, she didn't bother to wipe away the condensation that had accumulated there.

Granted, she never really did. In her mind, the less she saw of herself the better. She thought that if she didn't have to look at herself maybe she could actually trick herself into believing that all the bad she had done in her life, never really happened in the first place.

Emily spit the foam from her mouth into the sink and placed her toothbrush back into the cabinet and exchanged it for a hair brush. She again, quickly went through the motions of running the brush through her untamable wavy hair and placed that back into the cabinet as well. She made sure all was well in the bathroom and then opened the door to her own bedroom. She moved towards the dresser and picked out a plain black t-shirt and a pair of dark navy blue jeans.

It was just the start of October, and yet it was going to be a chilly winter in New York this year. That and winter seemed to be coming earlier than expected since the weather people on television seemed to be warning everyone to make sure they had their shovels ready and to be prepared for the cold weather.

Emily threw on her clothes and proceeded to clean up the room she was in by throwing dirty clothes into her hamper that was in the corner and putting her used towel back into the bathroom so it could dry. She also walked back over to her dresser and put on a simple watch and grabbed her phone, sliding it into the back pocket of her jeans.

Walking out of her bedroom, she went straight into the kitchen and started to make a pot of coffee. She never really liked the stuff but it did warm her up and help her stay awake. Especially on the days like today when she was running on little to no sleep. Reaching up above the coffee maker on the counter and into the cabinets above, she pulled out a well-used mug that had been stained with coffee and all other sort of drinks over the years.

While waiting for the coffee, Emily decided to check her phone for any messages she may have missed. As per usual, Claire had left her a text message this morning. She leaves one for Emily every day and Emily has yet to reply to any one of them. Emily figured that Claire would eventually get the picture, and stop messaging her but it seemed that not even a year can erase the affection Claire has for Emily. The two were best friends and to Emily it seemed that Claire would never let that go.

So, Emily did what she did every morning and deleted the message from Claire. She also noted that even after everything that had transpired the night before, there was no message from Matt. Not that she cared, but she was still a little peeved.

Turning around, Emily slowly looked up from her phone at the man who was now breathing steadily on her couch. That was the reason why she was a little angry that Matt never texted her this morning. After all, she was all alone in the presence of the Punisher. Emily cocked her head to the side and watched Frank's chest rise and fall noticing that the man had very _defined_ muscles.

She was too busy in the morning hours to take notice, but with his shirt off and everything on display, it was hard not to stare. Without knowing it, a soft blush crept up onto her cheeks and the back of her neck. She was a doctor, she was used to see guys with their shirts off all the time, this isn't anything new. However, seeing this man with his torso uncovered, seemed to place Emily in a bit of a fit.

The coffee pot beeped indicating that it was done being brewed. Emily was thankful for the noise as it let her escaped from her disturbing thoughts about the beaten up man on her couch. Shaking her head clear of any lingering thoughts, she quickly lifted the handle and poured the dark liquid into her mug. She placed the pot back on its burner and moved over to the refrigerator. She opened it up and grabbed the milk that was stored there.

She closed the door and started pouring a dash of milk into the coffee. She then, placed the milk back into the refrigerator and went back into her cabinets above the coffee pot and grabbed three packets of Splenda from the container that she stored them in. Opening all three packets with her teeth, she dumped them into the now-light-brown liquid. Reaching down by her hip, she pulled open a drawer and obtained a spoon.

She stirred the contents together, tapped the spoon on the edge of the mug, and placed the dirty spoon behind her in the kitchen sink. Turning back around, she grabbed her mug and took a sip and made a sour face knowing that even though she put in milk and sugar the coffee still tasted bitter. She figured that she would never develop a taste for the stuff.

Emily then started to hear a whimper come from behind the wall of the kitchen.

"Damn" she said out loud slamming the mug back down on the counter as its contents spilled over the sides of the mug.

Quickly rounding the corner of the kitchen and into the hallway behind, she heard scratching come from the spare bedroom. Moving closer to the door, there was also a note that was tapped on it. She removed the note and quickly skimmed through it.

 _Emily—_

 _Before I left this morning, I made sure to check up on your dog, since I knew you had your hands full. However, even with everything going on, I come to find him asleep on the bed in here. I closed the door in order to keep him there so he wouldn't disturb you or Frank. Also, I placed Frank's duffel bag and gun in here._

 _—Matt  
_

Emily silently thanked Matt for making sure that her dog was okay when that should have been her first thought of the day and not anything else. Mentally beating herself, she tried to blame it on the events of the morning, but she knew better then to do that.

She opened the door slightly, jamming her knee into the opening so the dog wouldn't come running out at full speed. She felt soft fur come in contact with her body as she heard soft pants just behind the door. Maneuvering her body so it was inside, she closed the door behind her and took survey of the room.

It seemed that Matt dumped the gun and duffel bag on the dresser that was in the room as the navy comforter on the bed was wrinkly from where the dog was sleeping. Feeling a large body bump against her shins, she bent down and started to pet the dog behind his ears.

"Hey Max, how are you doing boy?"

The dog just looked up at Emily with his tongue out as Emily smiled slightly at it.

"I'm sorry that you had to spend all night and morning in here. But I'll make it up to you okay boy?"

Emily watched as Max's tail started to wag even more furiously. The dog never made much sound except to whimper at times when he needed something or tried to get her attention. He was a well-behaved and trained dog.

Standing back up, Emily took hold of Max's collar and opened the door that lead out to the main part of her apartment. She wanted to make sure that Max didn't bolt off and jump on Frank, injuring him even further than what he already was. Emily, walked hunched over keeping a firm handle on Max's collar. When the two rounded the corner, Max started to get hyper and try to run towards the man on Emily's couch.

This made her have to lean back and place her other hand on his collar fighting against the dog's strength which was about seventy pounds of pure muscle. She struggled against the dog who was panting furiously and whimpering. Never had she seen Max act like this.

"Max, heel boy, heel!" Emily struggled.

Max tugged against her arms one more time while dragging Emily closer to Frank's body, but evidently listened to her in the end and stopped tugging towards Frank but his whimpers escalated into loud whines.

Emily quickly maneuvered in front of Max and opened the door to her office, hoping that he wouldn't try to run through her to get to Frank. Successfully opening the door, she led Max into the office and shut the door quickly behind him, trapping him in the room. She could hear his whining and promised him that once she finished up here she would take him outside so he could do his business.

Emily ran her hand through her hair and tried to calm her breathing from the events that just unfolded. She leaned up against the door that she just shut and looked over to where Frank lay. Was Max trying to warn her about Frank? Why was her dog so hyper when she saw him? She shook her head knowing that she would probably never get the answers to those questions.

Pushing off from the door she made her way back into the kitchen quickly taking in the mess that she made when she hurriedly went to go find Max. She grabbed the rag that was positioned by the sink and picked up her still-warm mug. She quickly wiped up the spill and returned her rag by the sink while taking a sip of her coffee.

Sighing deeply, she looked down at the liquid as the mug was still fairly hot, but its contents were only lukewarm at best. She swirled the contents of the mug around as she thought about the events of the early morning. Her mind recalled every dark and disturbing image as she received a chill down her spin. Hoping that it was more due to the cold, she took a sip of the coffee.

She knew that someone probably saw her there and was trying to piece together why she was helping the daredevil and the punisher. It was just some unnecessary drama that she didn't need in her life. Emily took her free hand and placed it on her temple rubbing it softly as she could feel the onset of a headache. Taking another deep breath, she turned once again to look past the kitchen counters to see a sleeping Frank Castle.

She never noticed before but she could hear the soft whistle of breath through his nose as it seemed to have been broken a few times before. Emily found herself softly smiling and chuckling at this fact as she knew that many people probably never were able to get close enough to see a sleeping Frank Castle. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she came across the startling realization, almost suddenly, that Frank may take off when he awoke, not alerting it to anyone else. This made Emily feel an overwhelming sense of dread that she hasn't felt in a very long time

Closing her eyes, she let this thought sink in as she let the other happier ones dissipate. Taking a deep breath, she pushed all thoughts and emotions down into her subconscious as she returned to her once nonchalant demeanor. She placed her mug back down on the counter and went back into her refrigerator to grab some peanut butter, jam, bread, and an apple. She quickly placed the peanut butter on one slice of bread and jam on the other slice and stuck the two together.

She placed the bread and spreads back and reached down to the drawer below where she kept her silverware. She felt around and found the box that had the sandwich bags in them and took one out. Closing the drawer, she placed the sandwich into the bag and grabbed the apple walking to the spare room that she just freed Max from.

Walking into the room, she placed the apple into the same hand she was holding the sandwich in and hesitantly opened the black duffel bag noting that it just seemed to contain a copious amount of ammo. Emily placed the sandwich and apple inside the bag, to the side of all the ammo and under the extra clothing and zipped it up, like she had originally found it. She didn't know why she was making Frank food for later, and really didn't want to know. It was like her body just acted at the thought of him leaving without saying goodbye after she practically saved his life meaning that if he took off without saying anything, she would still feel responsible for him.

Quickly exiting the room like she had something to hide she went back into the kitchen again. She noticed that she had drunk almost all of the coffee that was in her mug, so she took the pot off the burner and filled her mug up once more repeating her process with the sugar and milk.

She placed her hands over the mug's sides to let the heat seep through the ceramic and into her hands. She made her way past her television, and bar seating at the kitchen counters, to the couch that was next to the door that lead to her office in the front of her apartment. Looking down at Frank who was stationed on the couch, she kept one hand on her mug and let the other drift over to Frank's neck, finding a steady pulse. This alerted Emily that he was doing a lot better then what she had originally thought. It would probably be only a short few hours until he finally woke up.

She also placed her hand on his forehead noting that his temperature seemed to have rose since she last checked. She knew that she was going to have to keep a close eye on him to make sure that his fever didn't get any worse as the day went on—given that she had to open him up no more than five or six hours ago. A sign of fever could indicate that he was starting to develop an infection. She let her hand linger for a moment longer before she felt the nagging heat of a blush on her cheeks and on the back of her neck.

She abruptly moved her hand back to the safety of the mug and dropped her gaze to the brown tinted liquid instead. Never in her life would she ever think that she would be helping people, like Frank Castle, escape death. Nevertheless, she had saved horrible people that she never wanted to ever talk about again in her life. However, maybe the reason why she was so entranced with the man in front of her was because deep down she knew that he wasn't a bad person.

Contemplating this, she took another sip of the bitter coffee and stuck her tongue out at it. She turned her back on Frank knowing that he wouldn't be up and about for some time, she opened the door to her office to declare herself open for business for the day.

* * *

Thursdays for some reason were always slow. There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to it. Typically, Mondays and Fridays were the busiest. People would drop off or pick up their stuff on those days and the rest of the week was just short conversations with people who had quick fixes. When it was really slow, Emily would sometimes help the other tenants in the complex with issues that the landlord had refused to fix.

She leaned back in her chair and tinkered with a dusty circuit board that went into an ancient looking radio. Majority of the things Emily fixed would be things like this. Old radios and clocks that the older generation couldn't seem to part with. Sometimes people would bring her computers and other small electronics like cameras to fix. She rarely had televisions in the place since most of the time it was cheaper to buy new ones then to get it fixed.

However, the people in her building always seemed to give her things to work on. If it isn't through her own business, then it would be to fix some light fixture or someone's toilet broke. Granted, not many people came to her about that except for an old lady down the hallway from her.

On the other hand, Emily preferred this work over the dirty work she started to get a reputation for. She wasn't one to ask many questions and she had a strict rule that once she called you, you had a week to pick up your goods or she had the right to sell them and do what she wanted with them. She even made every costumer sign a waiver saying that understood what she just told them.

Every so often, an undesirable person would stroll through asking, more demanding, that a gun be tampered with or they needed to gather information about someone or something. Depending on what was being asked or what needed to be fixed, the price varied. Sometimes, she would have two groups of people asking about information on the group that was just asking for information about them. She didn't loath the work, but talking to those types of people could be intimidating at times.

Emily placed her screw driver on her desk and used both hands to place the circuit board back into the radio. She kept one hand on the back of the radio, and picked up the screw driver once more to fasten the backing on the radio. Once the screws were in place, Emily twisted the device back around and started to try and tune the device.

She turned the dial and it started to only pick up a little static. She pondered over why the device still wasn't working and figured that it was because it couldn't pick up the radio waves. This had Emily reaching down to the tub at her feet and pulled out what looked to some rusty stainless steel wire. She coiled the wire around the short metal antenna and extended the wire upwards slightly. Cutting the wire with some pliers, she tried to tune the device once again.

At first there was static, but then the radio caught and held some radio stations alerting Emily that she had fixed the device. Pushing it farther onto her desk, Emily allowed the radio to keep playing the smooth classical music. She took her pen and made a note to call the man who had left the radio in her care to alert him that she was finish with the repairs.

Emily looked over at Max who was sound asleep in the corner on his dog bed. Earlier she had taken him for a walk and he seemed to have tired himself out. She was used to him trying to run wild outside and it did the trick since when he got back home, he usually slept for the rest of the day.

Emily smiled at the sleeping pup, before turning the music down a little lower. She pushed back her chair and left the music on while she decided it would be a good time to check on Frank to make sure that he was still doing okay. Plus, it was almost time for closing, so she figured that not many people would be coming in here now.

Sliding the bin back under her desk, along with her chair, Emily cleaned up slightly and opened the door to the main part of her apartment. Max lifted his head at her but made no movement to join her. Emily went through the doorway and left the door slightly ajar in case someone evidently did come to drop off or pick something up and then that way she could hear them come in and assist them.

Running her hand through her hair Emily went over to where Frank still laid on the couch. She didn't expect him to be up and about, but she had hoped that maybe he would have shown some sign of movement. That way she would be sure he would wake up. Emily reached over and picked up her medicine bag from the corner. She quickly got out her stethoscope and placed the ear pieces in her ears and moved the cold metal piece over Franks heart.

She listened quietly making sure that his heart beat was still going strong and that it didn't become irregular. After she checked his heart, and placed her stethoscope around her neck, she pealed back the gauze that was on his chest to make sure that all the stiches had held. She wouldn't be able to turn him over, so this was the best thing she could do at the moment. She pulled out some new, clean gauze and replaced the old with it.

After that was done, she carefully maneuvered his wrist closer to her so she could take his pulse. She held his hand in her own and looked at her watch while counting the beats. Everything seemed to be checking out. The only thing left to do was to check if Frank really did have a fever. She dug around in her bag and realized that her thermometer was broken. She made a mental note to go get a new one later at the pharmacy down the road.

While pondering if she could check any of his other vitals with the limited amount of medical supplies she had, she didn't notice Frank's face distort in discomfort. Emily figured that she wouldn't be able to do anything else, and so she looked back at the rise and fall of Frank's chest and placed a hand on his forehead seeing if he seemed any hotter than what she had felt in the morning.

Getting lost in her thoughts, Emily let her hand linger on Frank's forehead as she took in the sleeping man's features. However, she was brought out of her thoughts when her own blue eyes were met with tired brown ones.


	6. Chapter 5

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 5**

 _ **Lucy:**_ **lol at least the cliff hanger makes you want to read more! Also, you actually won't really find out what happened to Emily until a little bit later in the story. However, in the upcoming chapters some hints are dropped**

 _ **Mira:**_ **I am so glad that you like my fic and I am excited for you to read the rest of the chapters! I hope you like how Frank reacts in this chapter since you found out last one that he is awake. Also, as I told Lucy above, you won't actually know what happened to Emily until later in the story but some foreshadowing about her past is definitely going to show up!**

 _ **Random:**_ **As always, your comments make me smile so much! That was what I was going for with the "it's just like a normal day but 'hey!' I am trying to keep a man from bleeding out on my couch!"**

 **Thank you guys so much for commenting, I really appreciate it and I hope that this chapter is okay in the sense of how I am writing Frank. If you have any suggestions on how I could improve, please let me know! Also, the reason why I am posting this early is because I will not be able to update tomorrow since I am traveling back down to the state I go to college in… a whole whopping 10-hour drive… bleh…**

* * *

At one moment Emily was checking Frank's vitals and saw his flicking eyes open, and in the next, she was thrown on the floor with a hard forearm against her windpipe choking her. Frank didn't seem that he was presently in reality and it had Emily scratching at his arm in order to breath. She tried to squirm away, but he hands managed to lock down her body and legs with his own. Gasping for air, Emily started to make attempts to get away from Frank's weight.

She looked into his wild eyes as she could feel her head start to become light from the lack of blood and oxygen. She pulled down on his arm that was choking her with both of her arms, but she wasn't strong enough to overcome his strength. Making one last decision before she lost consciousness, she tried to get Frank to come back to reality.

Therefore, she tried with all her might, to say something that would get him to ease up on her so she could possibly breath again. So, she blurted out the first word that came to mind.

"…Sa—fe…" Emily choked out.

All of a sudden, the force was moved from Emily's throat to her chest as the weight lessened on her entire body as well. Gasping and choking for air, Emily hung onto Frank's arm as she let her lungs taste the sweet taste of air that they so desperately needed. Even though she still felt light headed, she knew she wasn't going to be blacking out.

"Who the hell are you!" Frank yelled in Emily's face.

Emily was trying to still gather her breath and couldn't speak quick enough for Frank's liking.

"I asked you a question!"

Emily felt more force being placed on her chest as an intimidation tactic.

"I, umm… I…"

"Well?"

"I'm Emily Crawford. I'm a doctor" Emily said through gritted teeth.

"And where am I ma'am?"

Emily didn't miss the fact that even though Frank seemed distressed, but he was still being polite to her given the situation they were in.

"You are in my apartment, Mr. Castle" Emily returned the same mannerisms that Frank was displaying.

"And why might I be here, ma'am?"

Emily tried to move under Frank's weight as the pressure was starting to stretch from uncomfortable to painful. Plus, the weight on her chest did nothing to help her catch her breath as she still felt like she was panting.

"I would be happy to tell you if you would please get off of me?" Emily pleaded trying to give Frank a sincere look even in her compromising position.

Emily could see the gears turn in Franks mind as she finally felt the weight of his body stop crushing her own. Standing up, Frank offered a hand down towards Emily, as she hesitantly placed her own in his, noticing that he handled her with a care and softness that she wouldn't have expected.

Frank pulled her up to a standing position, as Emily quickly placed a hand on her head as the world seemed to start to spin. The constant change of direction was doing a number on her equilibrium. Shaking her head slightly, she realized that she was still holding Frank's hand. Blushing, she let it go suddenly, motioned to him that she would be right back, and turned to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water as Frank stood in the same place taking a fighting stance.

Emily grabbed a glass and turned on the faucet from the sink and filled her cup up. Once it was filled, she almost downed the entirety of it and quickly refilled it walking back over to Frank.

"So I take it that you don't remember anything that happened?"

"…No ma'am" Frank hesitantly responded.

"Well I guess I should say that we have a mutual friend in common—red, as I like to call him" Emily chuckled.

Frank just looked at her chillingly as Emily looked down and took another sip of her water.

"So… uhh… well he knew you were in trouble and needed me to help you get him so we went to the like warehouse, if you would call it that? Well, we saw you there and brought you back to my place and I fixed you up. Well, now that I mention it, it looks like you trying to choke the living daylights out of me has opened up your wounds. Do you want me to take a look at them for you?" Emily offered politely.

Frank just watched Emily as she spoke. He noticed that she had a tendency to look anywhere but the person she was talking to when she was nervous, as she constantly glanced down at her water. Watching her, Frank came to a realization from the night before.

"You're the one red brought to that blood bath weren't you? I mean the one who had a gun put to her head?"

Emily snapped her head up from her glass and gave Frank a shocked expression.

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

Emily simply nodded her head as she put two and two together.

"Well, I guess I should say thank you for saving my life then, Mr. Castle."

Frank studied the girl. At first she was nervous, but now it seemed that confidence radiated from her body. Taking in a deep breath, Frank spoke again.

"Well, I take it that we are pretty even, given that I'm pretty sure you had to patch me up, eh?"

Frank didn't wait for a response and he scanned the place noting that her apartment was clean without much clutter in it. He knew he had to find his stuff because he figured that the people he was after, and now consequently after him, would soon be asking questions to the locals and for some reason he really didn't want this girl to be caught up in the middle of it all.

"If you are looking for your stuff, it is in the spare room behind the kitchen. I also managed to pick up your gun, so that is in there as well" Emily stated plainly noting that that was probably what was going through Frank's head at the moment.

Frank slightly pushed past the girl as he followed the doctor's instructions. He opened the door, and just as she said, he had found his stuff that he had with him the night before. He quickly went over to the gun and saw that it had been cleaned and put back together. He picked it up to see if there was any lasting damage from the night before and found none. Placing the gun back down he dug through the duffel bag next to the gun, not noticing the food that Emily had left him earlier.

He found a black shirt and quickly slipped it on, thinking that his old one was probably caked in blood. However, the one thing he couldn't find was the armor that deflected majority of the bullets directed towards him the other night.

"If you are looking for your chipped armor, it should be in the closet—I am guessing" Emily stated from the doorway noting that Frank now had a shirt on.

Frank looked at the girl that was against the door frame and moved towards the closet. Sure enough, his armor with the spray painted skull was there.

"Anyway, if it is any interest to you, I was able to clean up your gun and fix some of the issues with your armor. Granted it isn't as strong as it once was, but it should do for now. You should really look into getting it replaced."

Franked turned his gaze to the doctor once more. Again, he could feel the confidence radiate off of her and it truly did surprise him that she wasn't scared to be around him. Granted, besides the stunt he pulled in her living room, he never really gave her a reason to be scared.

Frank nodded in reply to the girl. Not only was she a doctor but had the ability to fix body armor and clean guns. This profoundly perplexed him. It was an unusual combination.

Emily watched as Frank gathered up his belongings and realized that he brushed her off when she needed to patch up his wounds again.

"Hey, I know you are in a rush to get out of here, but I am pretty sure that I need to stitch you up again…"

"Thanks, but I have it from here ma'am" Frank replied simply.

"I am sure you do, but give me the benefit of the doubt here, okay?"

Frank just ignored the girl as he grabbed his boots from the corner of the room and started to lace them up on his feet. However, he felt a soft and delicate touch on his shoulder and not thinking, he quickly grasped her wrist and yanked it away from his body.

Emily let out a hiss at the feeling of her wrist being pulled in the opposite direction. She noted to herself to never touch Frank without him knowing again—if there was an again. For a few seconds, Frank held her there with her wrist in his grasp as he felt a few strands of her hair kiss his face. He could smell the lavender that came off of it due to the shampoo she used. Frank took in a deep breath, and came back to reality, releasing Emily and slightly pushed her backward. He noticed that she was rubbing her wrist and seemed worried, not scared like he had anticipated.

The two of them stated silent as the tension grew in the room. However, it was short lived as a seventy-pound piece of fluff hurled itself towards Frank. Frank was instantly thrown backwards as his instincts took over and tried to lash out at the object only to come face to face with a dog.

"ohmygosh! I am so so sorry! Down boy down!" Emily yelled at the dog.

However, even with Emily tugging on the collar Max would not budge and kept licking Frank's shocked face. He couldn't believe it…

"Max…" Frank gasped petting the dog behind the ears and holding him slightly closer.

Emily stood there watching the scene unfold until it dawned on her that she never told Frank the name of her dog.

"How… How do you know what my dog's name is?" Emily let go of Max's collar and stumbled back a little catching herself before she could fall.

"Well, uhh, this is kind of hard to explain…"

Emily crossed her arms and stared at the flattened man in front of her lifting her eyebrows as to why he knew this detail. Frank knew that look. Women had a tendency to give him that look when they wanted to know something and he didn't feel like over sharing. The last time he saw that look… Frank shook his head as if to clear the thought and sat up making Max move onto the bed nuzzling Frank's side.

"He is, well _was_ originally my dog."

Emily just looked at him dumbfoundedly as the gears started to turn in her mind. This was the dog that she rescued outside of the Irish's warehouse. That could only mean one thing.

"You were the one who had the Irish on lock-down at their warehouse and Max here, he is the casualty in all of this…Not to mention that our mutual friend had to carry your ass out of there that night as well…"

Frank placed a bruised hand on his neck as he didn't have words to explain. He was more of a man of action than one who used the pen. There was nothing he could say to defend himself. He watched the girl out of the corner of his eye contemplate her thoughts. He watched as she drew in a deep breath and let it out ever so slowly, so that if you weren't listening you couldn't hear the whistle of air exiting from her nostrils.

Closing her eyes, Frank watched as she seemed to be having a debate with herself and the next thing she said was something that Frank wasn't expecting.

"Will you let me fix your stitches now?" Emily looked into Franks dark eyes.

"Wha—"

"Let me take a look at the stitches you opened. You know that I can't be that bad if I have been taking care of _your_ dog for the past year."

Not waiting for an answer, Emily exited the room and then a moment later she was back with a needle and thread. Frank took an agitated breath and decided to comply with the women, only if it meant that he could get out of here faster.


	7. Chapter 6

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Thank You to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I really appreciate it :) Also, if anyone is wondering, the first few days back to school were icky... My suggestion is don't do engineering in college!**

* * *

Frank was sitting on a rooftop with his gun in his lap and his bag was on the ledge next to him while he dangled his feet over the streets of New York. It was dark now and being in that doctor's house for almost a day made him lose track of the people he was after. The Russians were back and they had a new plan for Hell's Kitchen. At least that was what the smugglers on the docks told him.

If last night was any indication of what the Russians' had planned, all he knew was that whatever it was, they didn't want anyone snooping around asking questions. Frank pulled out a cloth and started to wipe down his gun for the fifth time. The cold fall air nipped at his exposed flesh but he was waiting for someone to slip up in the night so he could find more answers.

Pausing only to look down and see the occasional drunk person, Frank decided to busy himself by loading rounds into the magazines for his gun. That way if he needed it, it was already ready to go. Placing his gun on his shoulder with the strap he rummaged through his bag only to come across a slick feeling object. He quickly moved his dirty clothes and ammo out of the way revealing what looked like to be a smashed peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a slightly bruised apple.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the sight. He never remembered packing food last night since he didn't think that it was going to be a big gunfight like it turned out to be. Trying to retrace his steps he was sure that he never stopped for food or anything to that nature. Thinking things through, he realized that the girl that was taking care of Max must have packed it for him assuming that he would take off like he did.

Blowing air through his nostrils he took the food out of his bag and sniffed it making sure that the women wasn't really trying to poison him. He hesitantly pealed back the sandwich bag and took a bite. Moving the contents around in his mouth, he determined that it was safe to eat, so he took another bite.

He almost finished the whole sandwich when he felt a presence behind him. He could feel his anger start to boil to the surface but decided to hear what the man behind him had to say. However, he did flick the safety off of his gun and swing it back around so it was in his lap again before speaking.

"What do you want red?" Frank simply stated into the night air without turning around.

"I wasn't expecting you to come to it as quick"

"What is with the sudden sentimental shit?"

"You're welcome" Matt scoffed.

This is what had Frank shift his torso to face where daredevil stood about twenty feet behind him.

"I wouldn't be saying that. You brought someone who could have easily been killed in that gunfight. Not to mention that there was a point where I am pretty sure that women you brought was going to…"

"I had full faith in Emily and I wouldn't have brought her if I didn't think she could have handled it" Matt interrupted as he angrily flexed his fingers and again clenched them into a fist.

"Keep telling yourself that. You say you are a protector of this city but you really have a funny way of doing it when you endanger innocent lives like that. Especially getting a doctor, who probably works at the hospital, involved. Not to mention that if she died there, there would be cops wanting your head for being there."

Matt scoffed at the man in front of him. No matter what anyone said or how much time passed, it seemed that the two of them would never be able to see eye to eye on certain matters.

"And what about you? What would have happened if they caught you there?"

Frank gave Matt a menacing smile, "I'm already dead red, remember?"

Matt stood ridged as the pair of them sized each other up. They seemed to stay like that for a tense minute until Matt decide to ease the tension as Frank traced Matt's walking figure with his eyes.

"The Russians you are after; I may have some information for you. That is why I decided to stop by."

Frank let his anger dissipate slightly before answering. Matt had a tendency to rile his blood.

"Well what is it?" Frank murmured sarcastically.

"Apparently, no one knows who is organizing the Russian's movement, but word has it is that they are operating a private strip join down in the red-light district of Hell's Kitchen."

Frank couldn't say he was surprised about this new information. He assumed that they had a business to front their money laundering practices and illegal activities. Now, he had a general location of the place and so later he would be able to scope out the terrane and maybe get some more answers about who is leading the Russians and what business they really are conducting.

Frank nodded his head at Matt in thanks and Matt decided that this was the time that he should be taking his leave before the two of them started to fight on the rooftop. That was usually what happened between the two, but Matt was out for revenge that night. He was in a dark place going down an even darker path to try and justify his actions and feelings as to what happened to Electra.

Frank turned back around and looked out past the city skyline as Matt left him. He was sure that the two of them were going to start to fight the other any minute as the tension on the top of the building was stifling. However, even with Matt's new 'hold no prisoners' mentality of late, he still didn't like the man in the red suit.

Frank placed the empty and crumpled up sandwich bag, that contained splotches of peanut butter and jelly, into his bag and replaced it with the apple. Checking the apple over as well, he made sure that everything seemed okay with it as he bit deeply into the skin of the fruit and pulled out a chunk with his teeth.

He occasionally wiped his mouth with his sleeve given that the juices of the apple were running down from his mouth and onto his chin making his skin a little sticky. Frank finished the last of the apple and threw it behind him knowing that the birds would take it upon themselves to finish the apple core for breakfast when the sun decided to expel the nighttime haze.

Surveying the landscape one last time, he decided to get up to see if he could verify the information that red decided to share with him. He needed to find this club and get some much needed answers. Getting up, Frank carefully placed his feet back on the ledge and walked along it seeing where he should start first. However, he noticed a body in a bright yellow shirt who looked like they had strawberry-blonde hair being blown back by the wind from running.

As the brightly clothed body caught his eye, he realized that four big men dressed in all black were chasing the girl.

"Shit" Frank muttered to himself.

That was when Frank's body acted faster than his mind as he grabbed his gun from his lap and tried to get a clear shot on any of the four men, but to his luck, he wasn't in the correct position to shoot and if he did, he would just be hitting air, and eventually the concrete of the sidewalk that the five bodies were running down. So, without thinking, Frank took off at full speed, sprinting across the rooftop to the door that had a dim red sign spelling _exit_ across it.


	8. Chapter 7

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Hey guys! So, I know that last chapter was a little short but I made up for it here! Last chapter was a lead up to this one (that is why it was so short) and I have to say that I hope you all enjoy this new chapter as much as I did writing it. I think that this has to be one of my favorite chapters that I have written to date. Plus, I just think that Emily is a total bad ass in the chapter, but I don't want to spoil anything so without further adieu...**

* * *

Emily woke up in a cold sweat after only being asleep for about three hours. She raked her hand through her hair as she tried to calm herself. It was the same recurring nightmare that plagued her mind every night, never letting her get a wink of much needed sleep. The only time that she really did get any rest was when her body would finally be pushed passed its limit and she would sleep without any dreams—only darkness.

Throwing the covers off of her, making sure not to disturb Max who was sleeping at the foot of her bed, she crossed her room and opened her chest-of-drawers. She quickly pulled on a sports bra and a bright neon yellow work out shirt. Closing the drawers, she opened another and pulled out slight compression shorts and started shimming her way into them. Afterwards, she moved into the kitchen, while putting her hair into a sloppy ponytail, to grab her keys and phone.

She quickly clicked the side illuminating the dashboard of the phone revealing that it was just past two-thirty in the morning. Taking a deep sigh, Emily also found a pair of old and dirty headphones that she had flung on the counter earlier that day. Grabbing them and plugging them into her phone, she placed them into her ears and turned up the volume of the music that started to play through her headphones and she took off for a run.

* * *

Emily could not quite understand how she seemed to get herself into sticky and unpleasant situations. She decided to take a different route than normal for her late-night or early morning run and it turned out that it probably wasn't the best idea she had. She decided to make a quick stop for a new thermometer, however, the universe had other plans.

When she rounded the corner of an alley by the general store, she found four men beating up on what looked like to be a boy no older then sixteen. It was as if they had jumped him since the boy looked to be coming home from the private catholic school that was around the area, given that Emily saw what looked like to be the emblem from the school on his uniform in the faint light when the boy shifted slightly from the punches and kicks to the stomach he was receiving.

She knew that she shouldn't have stepped in, and usually she didn't. She would usually just mind her own business and keep moving so the attackers wouldn't go after her. But something about this kid reminded her of what she used to be like. Maybe it was the fact that he was from the slums of Hell's Kitchen and was going to a decent school in order to better himself and help others. Or maybe it was the fact that no matter how many times the men punched or kicked the kid, he never once cried even though all of his energy was gone, he still fought back. So, with her big mouth she did what she shouldn't have done and told the men beating the boy to stop what they were doing.

"Hey! Stop it, what are you doing to this kid?"

Emily said rushing over to stop the beating in process.

"Isn't it little late to be out, girly?" one of the men snarled at her.

Emily came right up to the group and tried to stop them from beating the poor boy senseless.

"This isn't any of your business sweetheart, so why don't you just continue on like you never saw nothin'…"

The boy caught Emily's light blue eyes as she knew then that she couldn't leave this boy behind. So, she did what any sane women would do in this situation, she kicked the man who told her to leave square in the jewels and while he was doubled over in pain she clocked the next closest guy in the jaw. This was enough to stun the other two men enough so Emily could distract them away from the kid.

Emily took this opportunity to yell, "RUN!" as the kid scrabbled to his feet and ran off into the dark alley. She wasn't watching the other men regain their composure, she was focusing on the boy making sure he had escaped until she suddenly felt her back being slammed against the rough brick wall. She quickly pushed her arms in and then out and around, to free herself from the man's arms who had a slight hold on her shoulders, breaking free from his clutches. Without wasting a moment, and while the drunk men realized that she got out of their buddy's hold, she started to run as fast as she could.

* * *

Emily decided to round the corner instead of going straight and unfortunately, with her luck, it was a dead end. It wasn't the type where there was a metal fence you could climb, no; this one was of a solid brick wall that was attached to a high rise. This made getting out of this situation a little harder since four burly looking men were right on her heels.

She heard the men snickering behind her as she went into the alley as far as it would allow as she searched desperately for something to fight back with. Moving her head quickly side to side, her hair temporally blinding her as she did so, she could not seem to find anything. That was when a grimy hand pulled on her shoulder and pushed her so her back roughly scratched against the coarse brick material. She looked into the dark eyes of her assailant as he boxed her in with her body so she couldn't move and at this point both her heart rate and breathing patterned picked up. Not only due to the run, but coming to the realization that she was caught with nowhere to go.

Her mind finally started to kick in as she struggled against the man who was trying to restrained her.

"Heh, you should stop doing that bitch, you already have so much you have to pay us back for…" The man breathed on Emily's neck while going in to slightly smell her hair.

"Not to mention that, that little bitch cost us our client today!" Piped up from one of the other men surrounding Emily.

Emily continued to struggle against the man's body as he used his forearm to keep her steady. However, it was a little too close to Emily's mouth as she bites down as hard as she could on his forearm drawing metallic tasting blood.

"Shit!" The man holding down Emily yelled out.

This prompted the man to use his other hand that was not directly on Emily's body to slap her harshly across the face. His pinky ring flashed in the faint light that was in the alley as it made contact with Emily's lip. Emily instantly let go of his forearm as she felt a sharp pain tare her flesh away from her lip making her flinch. Breathing heavily, she leaned her head back against the scratchy brick taking in the rest of her surroundings while feeling warm blood rush down her chin.

She saw the man come close to her again as he was starting to get over the pain of her biting him as he pinned her back down with his forearm and with his free hand recoiled for another hit on her face for the trauma she caused from his arm, but everything seemed to halt when the five of them heard a rough voice sound behind them.

"I wouldn't hit her again, if I were you… Actually if I were you I would let her go, it is in your best interest here."

Emily couldn't make out who was there due to the four burly men in front of her but she was sure that she heard the unmistakable noise of a gun cocking. The three men that were behind the one currently holding her against the wall started to approach the man who had interrupted the men. The one holding her against the wall glared at her and decided that to keep her here and in a state where she couldn't run off, he kneed her in the gut.

Emily doubled over and her eyes widened with the pain to her gut. It was almost like she was moving in slow motion as her knees buckled and she hit the hard asphalt. She could feel bile from her stomach come up her throat as she instinctively opened her mouth to drain the stuff that was coming up so that she didn't choke. Emily clenched her hand to her stomach in hopes that it would alleviate the pain but this just brought on another dry heave and made her start gasping for air. She was almost too consumed with the pain in her gut but her curiosity got the better of her as she started wondering who would have decided that it was a good idea to rescue a girl from four thugs.

Her face was trained to the ground as she heard the four men grunting and curse as if they were losing. But that couldn't be possible… it was four against one. Emily could feel the pain start to fade in her stomach as she heard men moaning and a pair of boots walk in her direction. She didn't dare look up in case it was one of her previous assailants. The thought never crossed her mind until now, but what happened if the newcomer actually wanted her for himself?

Emily held her breath as the boots stopped inches from her as the man crouched down to her level, making Emily have no other choice but to look into the eyes of the man in front of her and it was not who she thought it was going to be. To her surprise, there was Frank Castle, once again saving her life.

* * *

Emily couldn't make words come out of her mouth even though it was wide open as if she was going to say something. Frankly, she didn't know what to say to the person in front of her.

"You okay ma'am?" Frank muttered looking over Emily with a trained eye noticing her split lip.

It took a moment for Emily to register that Frank was speaking to her as she caught his eye once again.

"I uhh… I… yeah I am fine, thank you…" squeaked Emily.

Emily watched at Frank adjusted his weight from his heals to the balls of his feet as Emily stayed seated in the position that she was in. That was when Emily noticed the gun the was slung on Franks shoulder. Frank looked where Emily's eyes flickered as his own landed on the strap of the gun on his shoulder.

"I figured that I didn't need it to defect some thugs. Granted, I probably should have shot them since I have now seen what they did to you…"

Emily could see the flicker of debate behind Frank's eyes and she tried to keep him from actually having to kill anybody tonight. Well, kill anyone that she knew of tonight. So, Emily just simply nodded her head at Frank's comment and interjected her own.

"Thank you again, Frank, I mean it"

"Yeah well, you shouldn't have been out here at this time of night. What were you thinking?" Frank gruffly retorted.

Shrugging Emily simply stated, "I couldn't sleep and so I went out for a run."

Frank ran a hand over his face.

"For a doctor you aren't the smartest, are you? I mean you could've gotten hurt a lot worse—"

"Well, I wasn't and I am a grown woman. I can make my own decisions" Emily huffed.

The two stayed there looking at each other as the tension built between them. Emily was not one to back down and this was a new one to Frank. The only other person who had no problem going toe to toe with him was his late wife, Maria. Frank shook his head trying to clear his thoughts as Emily watched the peculiar motion.

Emily bit her lip slightly and winced as she felt a sharp pain as she did so. She had forgotten that the flesh was torn and she had a deep cut on her lip. Frank, noticing Emily's lip, found that she had only made the wound worse due to this action and as a result, more blood bubbled to the surface of the exposed wound. Carefully, Frank brought his hand up, cradling Emily's face with his fingertips by placing them slightly behind her ear and with his thumb, slightly swiping underneath her lip where the blood had pooled. He then gently placed his thumb over the wound and applied pressure.

Emily was shocked by this motion. Yes, the two had touched each other before when she had to extract the bullets out of his body and when she re-did his pulled stitches, but this was different This seemed almost _intimate._ If Frank moved his face an inch or two closer, they would be kissing.

"Wha—What are you doing?"

"Stop talking, you are just going to make your wound worse. You should know that putting pressure on the wound helps stop the blood…you are a doctor after all, right?"

Emily deeply sighed and bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything that may be construed as a cheeky remark towards the man who had just saved her life once again. So, she adverted her eyes from Franks intense glare as she stared off into the alley just above Frank's shoulder.

That was when Emily noticed that one of the men from before had gotten up and started to draw a knife from the waistband of his pants. She could tell because there seemed to be a glint off of the metal that was produced by the hazy light that streamed down the pathway. Before Emily could make out what he was about to do, the gnarly man ran towards the two of them.

Emily didn't think in that moment, she only acted. That was why before Frank even had time to turn around, and register what was happening, Emily threw out her arms and clutched his shoulders, that were covered by a black leather coat, and pulled him towards her as if to try to move Frank out of the way and change the directory of the knife so it would come at her instead.

She was able to just move him out of the way as the knife sliced through the air barely skimming the surface of Emily's cheek causing a long, but shallow cut on her cheek—not deep enough to need stitches. She could feel the stinging sensation and could also see a piece of hair flying the other way as it was cut off by the motion of the swinging blade that the man held close to her face.

However, Frank on the other hand, was not expecting to fall forward towards Emily, as he abruptly placed a hand on the brick wall by the side of her face stopping his momentum from going too far forward and crushing the girl beside him. He realized that he was millimeters away from her hair and unwillingly he let his sense of smell be consumed by the scent of lavender. He didn't know it yet, but he had already started to associate that smell not only with Emily but also the sense of calm that would eventually rush over him when she was near.

However, before he let himself get consumed by his thoughts, there was a threat at hand so Frank quickly reached for the pistol that was in the waistline of his jeans. He could see the blade leave a feather of a cut on Emily's face as he turned his head. Without hesitation, and without waiting for the man to move his arm back to plunge the knife down into Frank's back, to make up for missing his target the first time, Frank put two bullets in his chest and one in his forehead with ease and fantastic precision.

Emily saw the man that attacked them fall into a bloody heap. All the blood escaped Emily's face as she turned into a ghost shade of white. She had seen people pass away on the operating table and when they were brought in with severe wounds. She was even okay when Frank put a bullet in the Russian's head when he was about to kill her. But she could distance herself then and she also never saw the Russian actually take the bullet to the brain.

Now, when it all happened in a blink of an eye, and in a way like this, meaning that she saw the bullet go through this man's skull as he fell lifelessly down to the pavement, all she could do was start sucking in shallow breaths as if she was going to have a panic attack.

When Frank heard the gasps of breath next to him he whipped his head back and noticed the women in front of him clench her fingers into his shoulders as if he was the thing keeping her upright. He looked Emily straight in the eyes and felt her hair tickle his nose in the close proximity of their bodies as he could once again smell the strong scent of lavender wafting up into his nostrils.

Frank was just about to say something when he heard sirens go off in the distance. He stood up slightly dragging Emily with him as he did so.

"Come on, we need to go." Frank harshly stated.

Emily just nodded towards the sound of Frank's voice as he kept a firm hand around her waist as if she would fall down at any moment. While Emily stumbled on wobbly legs, the pair of them made their way out of the alley and down the street to hide low for a while until the cops dispersed.

* * *

Emily fumbled with her keys in front of her door. Her hands shook slightly and she couldn't seem to concentrate on finding the right key to the door with the old flickering light that barely illuminated the hallway. Finally, she was able to jam the correct key into the door knob and twist it opening allowing not only herself, but Frank to enter.

Emily quickly threw open the next door that separated her office from her apartment and abruptly sat down on the couch by the door that recently held a bloody and dying Frank Castle. Some color had returned to her face but she was still in shock. This concerned Frank as he watched the girl as if she would fall over at any minute.

Frank watched a furry blob come from Emily's room and realized that the dog must have figured out that someone was in the apartment. Max quickly brushed up against Frank's leg as he gave the dog a swift pat, but Max's destination was Emily. Max sat in front of her and Frank watched as she pulled the dog close to bury her face into the dog's fur.

Frank sighed and looked around the dark apartment. He figured that it would be best to tend to Emily and her wounds first. He didn't know how extensive they were and they may have been worse than what she was letting on. Not to mention that her lip had started to swell and she needed to ice it before it got any worse.

Therefore, Frank found his way into the kitchen, flicking on the light switch illuminating the small space. He went into the freezer and found what he was looking for; a bag of frozen peas. He took them out and slammed the door shut walking back towards Emily and Max noticing that neither of which had moved an inch.

Frank scratched his nose not really knowing what to do in this situation making him get agitated with himself.

"Hey…" Frank let out harshly by accident.

He wasn't intending for his voice to come out like that so it made him cringe as he heard his own voice. However, this seemed to do the trick to get her attention as Emily peaked her head up from Max's fur. To Frank, it seemed like she had started to calm down but he knew she didn't sleep much given that she was running around at two-thirty in the morning. Therefore, it also looked like she was just exhausted from the past couple of days.

"Here" Frank extended the frozen peas to Emily as she stared at him with a questioning look.

"It is for your split lip"

"Thanks…" Emily whispered as she hesitantly brought the cold pack to her lip flinching at the tenderness of her wound.

Frank nodded to Emily's reply. Looking around the room, he wanted to find where Emily kept her medical supplies because he wanted to but some butterfly bandages on the slight knife cut on Emily's face so it had a less chance of scaring. Frank opened his mouth as to say something but Emily beat him to the punch line.

"My medical bag is on my dresser."

Frank tilted his head towards the women and went to go retrieve the bag. He went through the door and found it easily, but before he left he did take a quick glance at Emily's room. He realized that she didn't really keep a lot of stuff lying around. It was like she didn't have anything of sentimental value here, even though this was where she lived. This striked Frank in a weird way. People, especially women, like to have a lot of crap around to tell the story of their life, as this one seemed to have nothing to put up on display.

Deciding to push these thoughts to the back of his head and worry about it later, he headed out of the bedroom and moved towards Emily. He made his way over to her and saw that Max was now pattering around in the kitchen as Emily sat back on the couch with the ice pack on her face and her head tilted against the back against the posterior of the couch while slightly making contact with the wall as well.

Emily watched lazily as Frank came in front of her and went through her bag. If this was any other scenario, she would have bitten off a person's hand if they tried to riffle through her medical bag like Frank was doing. However, it seemed like she had no strength to even move, let alone fight with the punisher.

Frank found what he was looking for as he pulled out an alcohol wipe and some butterfly bandages.

"This may sting a bit" Frank said trying to not seem as harsh as last time.

Frank crouched down in front of Emily as he lifted his hand up to brush the wipe against the cut on her face. He saw her wince and involuntarily lean back a little trying to get away from the stinging sensation. He tried to be as gentle as possible but it was a little nerve-wracking as Emily's eyes were trained on every movement he did.

"I guess I should thank you for saving my life again" Emily said trying to break the silence.

Frank place the wipe next to his foot on the floor and reached into the box to pull out a bandage.

"I guess this makes us even again" Frank responded while not looking Emily in the eye and instead focus more on the cut on her cheek.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the one who pulled out all those slugs I had embedded in my body. Plus, you pulled me out of the way from that stupid thug and I don't like to be indebted. I also get the feeling you don't like feeling that way either. So I guess we are even now," Frank simply stated while starting to place the bandage on Emily's face.

"But I mean…. How… like…"

Frank, anticipating this question, stopped what he was doing and directly looked into her eyes.

"I was on top of the building you ran past and I realized that it was you who seemed to get in trouble, yet again. Granted, before you ask, I didn't have a clean shot on any of them so I decided it would be better to go down there and fight them face to face."

Emily nodded her head as she caught sight of Frank's spilt knuckles. It seemed like it would hurt to have punched men over and over again with knuckles spilt wide open like that but he made it seem like there wasn't much pain that was to be felt. However, if there was, she was pretty sure that Frank was use to hiding his pain.

Frank took his time so he wouldn't have to think about the women in front of him as he applied a second bandage to the cut for extra precaution. He didn't know why he felt the need to take care of this girl and if he had to admit it to himself, he felt that it was pretty infuriating. He tried his hardest to not let anyone get close to him and for him to not get close to anyone else. But this girl in front of him had a habit of breaking down the walls he put up.

Not to mention the fact that he also was agitated that no matter what, it seemed like this girl had this calming effect on him. It was hard to stay angry or irritated when she was around him and he had only known this woman for a short amount of time.

"You want to stay?"

Frank abruptly came out of his thoughts when the melody-like words sang threw the air. He didn't realize that the girl was trying to tell him something. Noticing this, Emily repeated herself as her face started to heat up.

"I was wondering if you would like to stay here. I mean you need to treat your wound and I am—was a surgeon so I could do that for you," Emily spat out while closing her eyes forcefully.

Frank just gave Emily a curious and questioning look like it was absurd that this was coming out of her mouth.

Realizing how this must sound, Emily opened her eyes and started to stutter out more words to explain, "I…I mean like... uhhh… you don't have to stay here at all and I was just offering because I didn't know if you had any other place to lay low and take care of yourself. Plus, I mean, it must be pretty hard to lay low especially when you are supposed to be a dead man…Also, not to mention that they say the best place to hide is in plain sight, right?"

Emily ranted on but stopped herself before she got too far off track, she had a tendency to ramble when she was nervous. Not to mention that she was still trying to compartmentalize seeing a man shot right in front of her. So, she took a deep breath in hoped that it would steady her shay voice and body and looked into Frank's eyes.

"I know this may sound silly to you and all but I think it is your best option. Also, to make things fair, it wouldn't be free. As you can tell I don't live in the safest place and I tend to have so _undesirable_ costumers. So, if it came down to it, you could give them a tough word of two…"

Emily went on another tangent again explaining how his dog Max was here and she had an extra room with a bed already made up and it wasn't any trouble to her if he stayed especially since she went on to say that she wasn't expecting him to be around much anyway.

Frank kind of just sat there in thought trying to process what Emily was trying to ask of him. However, before he could fully think everything through, his mouth and heart once again spoke faster than he could think.

"I'll pop in, here and there, but I don't intend to stay… I'll only come by long enough for my wound to heal up…"

* * *

 **Heheheheheheheheheheh... Yeah I know I left it off there, but what did y'all think? Also, I forgot to mention it above, but thank you to all who left reviews on the previous chapter! I always smile when I read them, so thank you again for commenting!**


	9. Chapter 8

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Hey guys! Hope that you have had a great week so far! Also, thanks to all the reviews from last time and I know, I am updating this a little early than when I normally do but I am going out tonight and I don't know if I will have the time to update when I normally do! So, anyway I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

A loud banging stirred Emily from her sleep. She opened her eyes and quickly moved a hand to cover her face from the light streaming in from the window. However, when she brushed her cheek and lip with her fingers she was met with a sharp pain on her face. This made her instantly remember what happened the night before. She took in a sharp breath trying to repress the feelings and emotions that threatened to boil over.

She heard the loud banging sound again and sat up this time, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind and since she was moving too quickly trying to sit up, the blood rushed to her head as she felt lightheaded. She carefully hung her head and swung her legs around so her feet touched the cold wood floor. She stared down looking at her socks as she took in that she had fallen asleep on the couch when she got back with Frank earlier in the morning. Placing her hands on her knees, she pushed herself up into a standing position even though her sore body protested. Running a hand through her messy and bed-tangled hair, she walked through her office and looked at the clock on the wall.

Her eyes widened slightly as she realized that she was supposed to open about two hours ago. Not to mention that Max seemed to be hyperactive as well, given that she wasn't able to take him for a walk before she started work. Therefore, he was jumping up and down by the front door wanting attention from the person just behind it.

Emily scratched the dog's head and got in-between him and the door, using her own weight to move him out of the way. She made sure that Max couldn't get past her and she slightly unlocked the door, turned the knob, and opened it slightly so she could see who was eagerly here for business.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but the past few nights had her on edge and so when an elderly man showed up asking about the radio that she had fixed earlier, it was a nice reprieve from everything. She smiled at the man and motioned him in while Max greeted the man with a wagging tail.

"I will be right back, Mr. Ford. I have it back in my apartment," Emily nodded towards the man.

"Oh, take your time dear, I love Max here," Mr. Ford smiled at her and Max causing Emily to return the slight smile.

Emily went through the door leading to her apartment, letting it close behind her. She shuffled to the hallway and entered the room where she stored everything that she was working on, along with extra parts. She walked over to the shelf where she kept the finished products and took the old radio off of the shelf.

She tucked it under her arm, careful to avoid the large antenna sticking out of the top of it, and walked back out into the hallway leaving the door to her work room slightly ajar. Her feet padded across the floor until she came to the other room, which had the door slightly open as well. She usually always had this door closed, but she did invite Frank to stay here… not her best judgement call; but, evidently he did take her up on it.

The reason why Emily came to that conclusion was the fact that when she gingerly pushed the door, she could see an old pair of black, muddy combat boots in the corner. She hardly went in the room, and she didn't have anything of hers in there so she knew that the boots belonged to someone else. She didn't realize it but a slight smile crept onto the corners of her mouth. It wasn't much that he left, but it was something.

Emily reached for the handle and left the door like she had found it. She turned and started to travel back the way she came with a little bit of spring in her step. She crossed back into her office and saw Mr. Ford giving Max a belly rub. She set the radio on the desk in front of her and Mr. Ford looked up at the sound of her arrival.

"I swear, that dog loves you more than he does me, Mr. Ford"

"That is impossible, dear. Max, simply adores you. I bet that he is the type of dog that would lay down his life for his owner" Mr. Ford smiled sweetly wagging his finger at the younger women.

This caused Emily to laugh softly at not only his comment but the fact that Max was rolling around on his back trying to scratch an itch making him seem like he was possessed. Mr. Ford looked between Emily and the dog and laughed alongside her.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Ford."

"Anyway young lady, how much do I owe you for fixing this pile of junk?"

Emily looked at the old man and blew a little air out of her nose almost as if she was scoffing at herself.

"The charges have already been paid Mr. Ford."

"No, no. You can't start this with me again girly. I know that you fix these old things and such but you can't be doing well. I mean, no offense, but even I live in a better neighborhood and apartment than this and that is saying something."

"You have already been too kind. Did you know that you are actually one of the only costumers that I enjoy talking to?"

"See, now that I could believe."

The two of them laughed at the elder's comment.

"But really dear, how much do I owe you?"

"Mr. Ford, again, it is always going to be free for you. I enjoy the company and plus, I haven't charged you even for the first thing you brought me and it doesn't feel right to start now."

Mr. Ford looked at the girl with the love of a father that made Emily's heart warm a little. The two didn't see much of each other but she always saw him as a father figure and he always seemed to know what was going on in her life without ever saying anything to her about it.

"Well, thank you again, dear. You do fantastic work and I wonder why you are still doing it since you have so much talent. You should be opening up some big expensive store and getting your monies worth, not tinkering around with old geezers broken radios."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time that next time bills are due okay?" Emily chuckled.

Mr. Ford smiled at her knowing full well that she wasn't going to do anything about her current style of living. So, he tucked the old radio under his arm and turned to make his exit but stopped just shy of opening the door.

"One more thing, Emily."

"Yes, Mr. Ford?"

"I hope that the guy who did that to you looks worse than you do."

Emily paled slightly remembering how the guy ended up in a puddle of his own blood last night. She gulped down some air and tried to make her voice light.

"You know he does."

"That's my girl," Mr. Ford placed his hand on the door knob and turned around slightly facing Emily while opening up the door.

"But, I still think that if you do plan on staying here, you should get yourself a man who can protect you because this is no place for a pretty girl like you Emily. I'm not saying that you can't take care of yourself, but it may do you some good having someone who can help you out if things get a little too rough around here… if you know what I mean"

With that, Mr. Ford tipped his hat at her and left, letting the door swing shut behind him. Emily sat down with a huff and placed her head on her desk carefully avoiding the side of her face that was damaged. She knew that it probably looked worse than it did when she got the injuries, and she had no time to try and conceal them.

Granted, she probably wouldn't have tried very hard if she did have the time. She felt a warm mass nudge her knee and she moved a hand down to rub Max's head. She lifted her head up and placed her chin on the desk looking to the front of the door. She took note of the time again and knew that even though she just started the day, it would be pretty slow until this evening.

So, Emily did what any good pet owner would do.

"You wanna go for a walk Max?" Emily enthusiastically said to Max as he jumped around with his tongue hanging out.

Emily walked to the front and grabbed the leash off of the wall, and hooked it onto Max's collar. She also grabbed an old ball cap that was thrown in the corner of her office and placed it on her head while maneuvering her hair so it covered most of the injuries that were on her face. Then, the two of them were off for their much needed breath of fresh air.

* * *

 _~A week later~_

Everything pretty much was back on the same schedule it was on before the run that Emily had with Frank and Matt. She hadn't seen Frank since the night he fixed her up and Matt was off gallivanting in the night. She did seem to notice that Matt was staring to get more reckless with his personal missions since more of them showed up on the news each night, always with a glimpse of the man in red.

Also, thanks to Frank's handy work with the butterfly bandages, her cut on her cheek had healed and the swelling went down in her lip leaving only the flesh deep bruise of slightly broken skin on the side of her bottom lip. Not only that, but it was starting to turn a yellow-ish green indicating that she was indeed healing.

Emily kicked her feet up on her desk and picked up a screw driver and an old, beat-up Nintendo DS system. The twelve-year-old boy and his mother that dropped off the device sometimes come in for business when he breaks the game system like it is currently is. So, Emily always gives them a discounted rate since, like Mr. Ford, she enjoys their company. Not to mention that she knows the mother is trying to get away from her abusive ex through the court systems and that takes a lot of money—especially with a twelve-year-old son in tow. Plus, it was easy to make these types of repairs and get the system back in a timely fashion since they lived in the unit next to her own.

Taking a deep breath, she maneuvered the screw driver around so the back panel fell off, reveling a complicated circuit board and the internal body of the handheld. Looking around, she first popped out the buttons realizing that they weren't working due to some food getting stuck within them. Next, she lifted the device up above her head, the light making it easier to see the inside of the system, so she could try to see ig anything else was wrong.

However, there was a knock on a door and she flinched slightly at the noise because she was so engrossed in her work. Glancing at the clock she noticed that it was almost closing time. So, this meant it could only be one type of customer—one that wanted to either dispose of something and keep something a secret, or someone wanted answers to their questions.

"Come in," Emily announced while still fiddling with the device in her hands.

The door knob turned forcefully and the door was slammed open revealing two tall and menacing looking men.

"We need information Emily" the man sounded in a deep Russian accent.

Emily stopped what she was doing and looked the two men directly into the eyes.

"You know the rules then. Fill out the form, and pay me my five hundred dollars up front. If not, well then, I guess can't help you."

Both men stepped forward slightly. The one who was silent closed the door behind the two of them and stayed in front of it while the other, the one who started the demands, walked up and placed both hands on Emily's desk and leaned forward so their noses were inches from each other.

"Well, you know that we are here to do business"

"Well, Evgeni, I suggest that you fill out my disclaimer form and everything to that nature or else I am not giving you the answers you want."

Evgeni scoffed at the girl and motioned to the other man to come forward. As the silent man did, he produced a fat envelope from his jacket and he extended the package towards Emily. Emily hesitantly took the other side of the envelope into her hand as the Russian let his hand fall back to his side as he backed up behind his colleague.

"Thank you Dmitrii. See Evgeni, you just need to have manners, but alas, that was something your mother seemed to never have taught you," Emily retorted to Evgeni's demeanor.

"Well, at least my mother wasn't a crack whore," Evgeni smirked watching Emily's smirk falter and distort into a sour looking frown.

The two of them stared down each other until Emily was the first one to look away. She opened the bottom drawer in her desk and produced a form for Evgeni to sign. She also placed a pen on the paper as she laid them both down in front of the man. Then, she went back at looking fiercely at the man.

"Heh, you always have such a fast rebound rate, not to mention I know just the right amount of information about you to shut you the fuck up" Evgeni stated shrugging his shoulders as he moved his hand against the paper signing his name on the stupid form.

Emily gathered up the form and the pen and stuck them both back into the bottom drawer of the desk and tried to distance herself from the situation.

"What are your questions that you need me to answer? Since you know the both of you are too lazy to do the dirty work yourselves."

"Aww, come on Emily, don't be like that… I like it when you are feisty…" The gross Russian licked his lips and his eyes roamed Emily's body making Emily shiver from the disgusting look.

The Russian and Emily simply stayed where they were until the Russian backed up slightly so he wasn't leaning against her desk anymore.

"Fine, fine, have it your way." Evgeni replied putting his hands up in the air.

He continued on when he saw the look Emily was giving him. "We need to know if you have any information on the Punisher. One of my men said that they saw a girl, who frankly matches your description, and your little red friend hauling ass with a body that looked like Frank Castle's. Now would you mind telling me what this is all about?" The man questioned accusatorily.

Emily's heart started to race but tried to make sure that the shock didn't translate onto her face. She knew this was coming but she never truly realized that all of this might have caught up with her until now. It was like reality was finally setting in and she had to figure a way out of this. So she took a deep breath and tried to respond as calmly as she could.

"Last I heard, he was dead."

"Really?"

"Yeah, didn't you see all the police reports and everything a few months ago. That cargo ship went up in flames and Castle's body was apparently on it."

"Well, you know what? Cops like to lie and I know, I just know, like I have that fucking feeling that you aren't telling me the truth here Emily."

"Really, please do tell. I don't have any information about Frank Castle since you know HE IS DEAD" Emily replied sternly.

Evgeni rushed to move his arm across her desk knocking everything off of it. The lamp, tools and paper all crashed to the floor cluttering it with documents and now broken glass.

"I know you are hiding something. I bet you that he is the one who gave you that shiner!" Evgeni yelled at her face.

Emily started to yell back at the man, "I'll have you know that my injury is due to my own stupidity. I fell and that is the end of that story. Not to mention that there is no information regarding a dead man!"

With all the yelling going on and the intensity coming from Emily's voice, plus with the actions that Evgeni took with destroying the things on her desk, Max was stalking towards them, through the now open door that lead to her apartment, with teeth bare and a deep growl resonating from his throat. This made all parties stop fighting and watch the dog as he approached. Max quickly moved himself in-between the fighting pair and kept a trained eye on Evgeni as he backed up to where Dmitrii stood.

Evgeni maintained direct eye contact with Emily as he was trying to get out of the way of her snarling dog.

"Heh, we will be back Emily. Don't forget that, and next time you or your piece of shit mutt will be lucky enough to get out scot-free… Next time there will be hell to pay, just remember that bitch."

And with that the two Russians exited out of Emily's office with the door slamming behind them. Both Emily and Max could feel the tension in the air. However, she had a feeling that the next time she would be seeing Evgeni and his 'friend' it would not be a peaceful encounter. Like he said, she was pretty sure the next time she saw the man, he was going to either hurt Max, or her. Maybe even the both of them.


	10. Chapter 9

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 9**

 **So a few short things, first, I want to say that I wrote this chapter at like 3:30 am on "night" and when I went through to proof it I swear it was like I was trying to proof something a drunk person wrote. So, if this chapter is not the best, then that is why.**

 **Also, I am updating this a little early because I have to meet with my friend to do our engineering homework together tomorrow (yes I know on a Friday, it sucks!) and I want to make sure I update this so I don't forget to do so.**

 **Anyway, thanks for those who read and comment, I really appreciate it!**

* * *

Emily took a deep breath. She had closed up shop and made sure that everything was locked once the Russians left. She repeatedly checked the locks on her doors throughout the evening to make sure they were still that way since she had become a little paranoid due to the warning that they left her. All they really did was threaten her—which wasn't anything new, but something just felt different, like this threat was not to be taken lightly. Plus, she didn't know why, but when they brought up Frank, she instinctively lashed out at the men in order to protect him to the best of her ability.

She knew she wouldn't have given him up to the Russians, no matter what the circumstances because she had a feeling that Frank was going to become even more interwoven in her life. However, she generally would have given some information about a person, even if it was fake information, to someone who was looking for that person; but, in this situation, she did none of that. She cold-heartedly turned down the one simple question that was asked and became defensive over nothing; she should have made up something but her mind just went blank. That was probably why Evgeni knew something was up and threatened her like he did. She was usually so passive and nonchalant about everything, especially when he came seeking information, but just this one simple thing he asked her about, it just sparked a flame in her that wouldn't die down.

Taking a deep breath and plopping down in front of the television, Emily put on re-runs of "Star Trek" to try to take her mind off of her cracked out nerves and thoughts. She laid her head down on the couch pillow and looked out past the curtains, through the window, to see the last remnants of the sun turn into a peachy gold color. Sighing again, she picked up the remote and decided to channel surf through the channels instead of having to focus on a program.

At this point, Max decided to join her as he jumped up on the couch by her feet and curled up in a ball to be close to Emily. Emily felt the mass of fur and she carefully stuck her cold feet under the dog to warm them up. Adjusting her position to be more comfortable, Emily absentmindedly watched the images come and go on the screen in front of her.

* * *

It seemed as if time had escaped Emily. She was now slightly drunk, as she was nursing her fourth beer. She was still settled on the couch with Max, as her feet were still slightly under him. However, now there was only the soft light from the television that sprayed the walls of the apartment instead of the evening light that had originally illuminated the area, indicating that night had fallen over Hell's Kitchen.

Emily also had become lost in her thoughts as she gazed lazily at the moving images in front of her, as she evidently came back to the "Star Trek" marathon on the TV. It seemed that she hadn't been paying attention since she sat down and it was like she was just going through the motions of watching the program without actually watching it. Emily let out a stale breath and rubbed a hand against her eyes. She knew it was bad to watch television in the dark, like she was, but she could really care less.

Deciding that she should at least turn on the lap that was behind her, she sat up and she clutched her head in her hand quickly. The world seemed to be spinning and she silently willed it to stop in her drunken state. She carefully peaked through her hands and looked at the ground finding the three empty beer bottles. She decided to suck up the spinning in her head and scooped them up in her arms. She carefully rose from the couch and maneuvered her way into the kitchen to throw them away. She tried to open the cabinet under the sink so she could throw away her trash, but she misjudged the distance and grabbed thin air. On the second time, while slightly leaning forward, she managed to grasp the knob and swing the cabinet door open revealing a simple black trash can.

Making sure she didn't miss putting them in the bin, she carefully placed each one in, one at a time. Straightening up, she wobbled back to her place on the couch, but instead of sitting down again she just leaned over and picked up her half-drunk beer that was neatly placed on the floor. As she stood back she brought the can up to her lips as she had her back to the window. She didn't notice him at first, but Max instantly did. He sat up quickly with his hair raised a little from the back of his neck. He didn't bark or anything to that nature, he was just…watching.

"You okay boy?" Emily asked the dog almost as if he could understand her.

Emily knew that this was unusual behavior for her dog unless it was a certain group of people. Generally, he acted like this when _special_ people came by asking her questions, like the Russians, or if her _favorite,_ with a lot of emphasis on favorite, vigilante showed up—Matt. Straightening her back, she really hoped that it was the latter at this time at night.

"I don't know why, but that dog always seems to hate me" a voice slightly slurred from behind her.

Emily turned around to see a tipsy daredevil. She guessed she wasn't the only one who thought it would be nice to forget about everything for a while.

"Matt, why on earth are you here?" Emily stated simply putting her lips to her lukewarm beer.

Matt just stood there in his fighting pose, like he was waiting for Max to jump on him and start attacking him.

"Hello? Earth to Matt?"

Matt seemed to move his head to locate the sound of her voice and evidently located the sound so it looked like he was maintaining her eye contact.

"I was hoping we could talk…" Matt said quietly.

This had Emily rising her eyebrows slightly. The last time they had a "talk" like this, it ended up with her kicking him out and the two of them not talking for a month. The silence between the two of them was only broken due to the fact that Frank Castle was going to die.

Emily sighed and closed her eyes, taking a large gulp from the bottle that was in her hand. She felt the warm liquid pass down her throat as she swallowed it. Taking the brim of it away from her mouth and wiping the extra moisture off of her lips by using the back of her hand, she opened her eyes once again and looked directly at Matt.

"Okay, but let's take this up to the roof, I need some air anyway. It may help me sober up a little" Emily dryly laughed.

There was a brief outline of a smile that tugged on the corner of Matt's lips, but it never fully evolved into one. Emily sighed and ran a hand through her hair knowing that whatever they were about to talk about, she probably wasn't going to like. She motioned to the window as Matt turned around and headed out the way that he came in only a few short moments ago.

Emily shook her head and tried to maneuver herself outside, only stumbling slightly on the steps of the fire escape to the roof of her building.

* * *

"So why did you want to talk? The last time we did this little talking thing I wanted to rip your head off" Emily spoke casually.

The two of them were on the roof now looking out across the horizon of the city. The skyline was illuminated by the lights of New York City and one could faintly hear church bells off in the distance. Matt stood still with clenched fists that did not go unnoticed by Emily. However, she figured that it would be best if she gave Matt some space and time to find his words, so she backed up slightly to put some breathing room between the two of them.

While Matt stayed silent, Emily watched as the cars went by on the roads into Times Square and almost missed Matt's spoken words to her given that she was spaced-out.

"Why are you living with him?"

Emily titled her head to the side and watched Matt turn his head to meet her gaze; as well to make that sure she heard him.

"Why are you living with Frank Castle, Emily…"

Now it was Emily's turn to ball her fists up. She didn't know if it was the alcohol or her actual feelings but she was immediately on the defense, just like she was with the Russians.

"Should I ask how you know this or more importantly, Matthew, I should ask why this is any of your concern?" Emily raised her voice slightly.

"Firstly, because you are my friend and I don't want to see you get mixed up in shit that you are not a part of—"

"Like you really care about me getting involved in things that I have no interest getting into. You're the one that decided to drag me into all of your nightly escapades when you get hurt. Not to mention that since you brought him into this conversation first, I should point out that you are the one who so humbly introduced Frank and I so I don't want to hear—"

"You have no right to be doing this! You aren't cut out for dealing with this kind of violence that, that man will bring into your life! You made this my concern when you decided to have him move in with you, and I still don't know why you even asked him to do that in the first place!"

At this point Matt was furious and yelling at Emily as she was trying her best to keep her temper in check. However, it was not the easiest given that she had alcohol streaming through her blood and that she hated when Matt tried to dictate what she did in her life and how she lived it. It was days like today where she wished she never pulled Matt out of that dumpster.

"Again… How is that any of your business Matthew?"

"Because, I like to think of us close enough, as friends even, and I really don't want to see you get hurt and having to rescue you! Or worse, seeing you whine up dead!"

"Well I hate to break it to you but lately I'm not the one who is acting like the damsel in distress here, you are Matthew!"

"How can you even say—"

"Because I am not the one gallivanting around the streets of Hell's Kitchen at night and getting closer and closer to being caught every time I step outside, unlike you. Every night that I turn on the news, a little more of you starts to show up. You're not thinking with your head anymore. You are lost and most importantly you are acting superior to all who oppose you!" Emily finally let the anger out and boil over as she yelled at him.

"Well, maybe I want the news to find out that I am actually doing some good in this god forsaken city. Someone has to do what the cops are not willing to do and I figured I should be the one to do it."

Emily shook her head exasperatingly, "This, this right here is exactly what I am talking about, you cocky idiot. You seem on edge and irritated. It isn't enough for you to try to fix your own life. No. I don't think you could possibly fix your own life because you hate being Matt Murdock, the kid whose father was a boxer and died while you were still little. You hate just being the kid who is just a local boy from Hell's kitchen, it just isn't good enough for you. No, that life right there, you have thrown so much shit on it that the only way you can see the light of day is when you feel the need to repent for the sins you feel like you have by trying to sweep up the streets of hell's kitchen—"

"At least I am out there doing something Emily. You just up and left everything behind. You call me selfish and cocky but aren't you the one who is really that? I mean who goes from being a world renown surgeon to someone who fixes other people's shit?"

"—it's not shit Matt it's—"

"It is shit and you know it. You make a big deal about how I am out of line trying to actually help and clean up the crime here and all you have been doing is sitting on your ass doing nothing—"

"Yeah well, at least I have the decency to lie to people when they ask about information about you! I should have let you just rot away in that dumpster when I had the chance!"

At this point the two of them were seething with anger. It went to a slight heated conversation to full-blown war in a matter of mere seconds. Nothing good ever comes when both parties argue while alcohol is being pushed around in the respective parties' blood stream.

Matt turned to face Emily in this fiery debate as she seemed to stand her ground not backing down to the man in front of her. She looked him straight in the eye as she willed him to say more just so she could counter his argument and prove him wrong.

"Yeah, you should have because maybe then you still wouldn't be the girl that was a coward and gave everything up. No wonder why you invited the punisher to stay with you—"

"I asked him to stay because as a doctor I needed to make sure that his wounds were healing correctly—"

"You mean you _were_ a doctor Emily. You keep telling me time and time again, that you are not a doctor—well a 'specialized surgeon'—anymore and that I should leave you the hell alone. I know just a little bit about what happened and well, I hate to break it to you, but everyone loses people Emily. Everyone does, so why don't you suck it up and deal with it—"

Matt didn't notice when the tears started to stream down Emily's face but when he did he knew it was too late. He took it too far and he knew were Emily was going to take this conversation next.

"Yeah, well why don't you take your own advice. Huh? I mean you have been acting like a deranged and delirious child who refuses to grow up ever since Electra died! You don't get to dictate the choices that I make in my life because it is my life and not yours. I get to choose what and who to spend it with and you have no say in the matter Matthew. So why don't you take a step back and reevaluate your own life before you come demanding answers about mine."

Emily turned around and started to walk quickly back to the fire escape wiping her eyes on the back of her hand trying to catch the fallen tears that spilled out of the corner of her eyes. But before she knew it, she felt someone tug hard on her upper arm making her whip around to face in the exact opposite direction then where she was going.

"Ugh, let go of me Matthew!" Emily screamed at him.

"Emily, we are not done you can't just say something like that and—"

"Like hell I can. If you want to act like an asshole and get the shit beaten out of you be my guest. Just don't come crying to me when death starts knocking on your door… Now let me go!" Emily yelled at him again and she forcefully pulled her arm out of Matt's strong grip only to realize that his grip was the only thing that was keeping her upright.

She felt herself start to fall backwards, as all of her weight was forced onto her heels when Matt abruptly turned her around by her arm. As she felt wind rush through her hair, her eyes started to enlarge as she was grasping at the air in front of her. Matt realized that she was starting to fall as he reached down with the same arm that had been keeping her up. However, the two of them suddenly felt a new presence around them.

Emily had expected to meet the hard ground but the emotion of surprise overcame her when she felt a hand wrap around her waist, tightly, as her back came in contact with the torso of another person. Glancing up, as Emily realized that she wasn't falling anymore, she realized that this person also had a strong grip on Matt's forearm keeping him from touching her. Emily slightly raised her eyebrows so she could see through her hair and she shouldn't have been surprised because yet again, it was no other than Frank Castle coming to save her from getting into a stupid situation.


	11. Chapter 10

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Hey Everyone! I am actually updating at a decent time on Friday again, unlike the past two weeks, so yay go me! But I mean y'all can't complain because posting it early is better than not posting it at all! Anyway, thank you to those who have started following/favoriting this story and also thanks for all who reviewed last time as well!**

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 **To the Guest who didn't leave their name: You will get to find out what happened in this chapter!**

 **To Liza:** **I know! I agree with you! I tried to make Emily a strong character so that way she wasn't really a "damsel in distress," but she isn't over the top with everything in the way that she still has her own troubles she has to work through and she can only do so much with her lack of fighting ability. I'm glad that you like her though!**

 **To Lucy: You're comment made me crack up in the middle of class today and my prof. gave me a weird look when I started laughing. Also, my thoughts are exactly like yours in regards with Matt telling Emily what to do. Who knows maybe Matt just wants the _sexy_ Frank Castle all to himself *eyebrow wiggle*. Lol, but alas that isn't this type of story!**

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Emily felt Frank's grip on her waist tighten as Matt accessed the situation in front of him. He realized that Frank had a firm hold on his arm and he yanked it away. Matt seemed to being eyeing the pair up and down taking in what he saw in front of him, but Emily knew better. She knew that he was trying to gather information about the imagine in front of him by using his unnatural echolocation power and when an imagine did come into view for him, he became as tense as he once was.

"I think she told you that she wanted you to let her go" Frank addressed the tension that was flickering between all three of them still holding Emily close to him in case Matt decided to act out.

Matt didn't relax at the comment, but took a step back and fixed his stance into a more comfortable one trying to defend what little pride he had left.

"I was going to but she decided to fix that problem herself," Matt scoffed at the man in black.

"Yeah well, she ain't done nothing but help you out red. I wouldn't be trying to pick fights with the doc over here."

Emily winced a little from the name that Frank called her. She hadn't heard that term of endearment for quite a while and she could say that she never missed it. Granted, she didn't think that she had actually ever heard Frank say her first name given the short amount of time that they had known each other. Also, most of that time that they did spend together was Frank either saving her ass or him being unconscious on her couch.

Emily was still in her own thoughts while all of this unfolded, so she tried righting herself against Frank. However, due to his hard grip around her waist and her back roughly pressed against his chest, she was firmly pressed against him with nowhere really to go.. Unusual as it seemed though, she felt comfortable being that close to Frank. Chalk it up to a gut feeling, but she felt stronger when he was around and she was sure that Frank wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her.

"I was just about to leave anyway" Matt slurred towards the two looking defeated.

Snapping out of her ludicrous thoughts about Frank, it was evident that Matt was intoxicated before, but now Emily slightly pitied the man in red. She knew that he was hurting from the death of Electra, but until he came to her tonight, she never really knew how bad he was hurting. As instantly as the anger had come earlier to her, now she was hit with a deep sorrow for Matthew as she slightly regretted not handling the situation differently. She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved and she would never wish that pain on someone, even on her worst enemy.

Feeling the stinging emotions that she did with the knowing that she should have acted differently towards the man in red, along with the close proximity of Frank made her sober up frighteningly fast. Unlike earlier, she was now thinking clearly and the fog of anger had dissipated making her realize that Matt was coming to her as a friend. He wasn't really trying to tell her what to do, more like he was trying to warn her about the possibilities of what may come if someone like Frank Castle was her roommate. She shook her head and sighed, realizing that she was being her stubborn self as she blew the fight out of proportion—like she always seemed to do.

Emily was quickly brought out of her thoughts again, when she missed what Matt said to her under his breath. She cursed herself as she watched his figure turn around and start to make his way off of the roof. Whatever it was that she missed Matt saying, Frank seemed to squeeze her even closer to his own body if it was possible. Emily bite her lip as she knew whatever Matt said, it was probably important. She knew that what she was about to say would either put their relationship back so it could be mended or her words would make it so the two of them would sever ties with each other for good. Truthfully, she knew that she needed Matthew in her life, even though he brought more bad than good.

" _Red_!" Emily hissed against Frank's grasp.

Matt never turned around, but he did seem to stop in the split moments that Emily's voice sounded.

"I won't forgive you if you get yourself killed…" Emily whispered just loud enough for the two men could hear, even if Matt was across the roof from her.

And with that, Emily saw some of the pain roll off of Matt's shoulders and the taut muscles of his back relaxed slightly as she watched as Matt quickly jump off the side of the building. That's when she knew that she responded correctly to whatever Matt had said to Frank and herself earlier.

* * *

With everything that was going on, Emily kind of forgot that Frank still had a rigid grip around her waist keeping her close to him. All she was really thinking about was making sure that the one friend she had left in this world would still be able to see another light of the day. So when she finally realized her surrounds was when Frank let out a breath he had seemed to be holding. He slightly stepped away from her, releasing her from his grip and Emily could feel the cold hit her back where Frank once was. Unconsciously, she longed for him to be that close to her again.

A little flustered with everything that happened, Emily realized that with the lack of contact from Frank, her head was slightly cloudy again. The alcohol was hitting her like a ton of bricks since she had that clear moment through all of the haze. She shook her head and rubbed her temples trying to make the splitting headache calm down.

"You okay, ma'am?"

Emily looked up at Frank as he had maneuvered in front of her where Matt once stood. She winced at her headache but tried to pull of nonchalance even though Frank knew better.

"I preferred when you called me Doc instead of ma'am. Ma'am makes me feel like I'm an old lady" Emily let out a dry laugh.

Frank's lips slightly pulled up at the corners as slightly exhaled the same sound that she was making. The two of them just awkwardly stood there with Frank noticing her slightly puffy eyes, however, before he could ask what the hell Matt did to make her cry, Emily spoke first.

"So, how much of that conversation did you hear?"

Emily met Frank's cold eyes with question filled ones. In response to her question, he placed a hand on the back of his neck and slightly looked off past the edge of the roof.

"I take it that you hear most of it, if not all of it?"

Frank let his hand drop as he met her eyes once again.

"About the time where you started calling red a damsel in distress."

Emily nodded and smiled slightly to herself for actually calling Matt that out loud. But, that was when it dawned on her that all throughout the conversation, she had referred to Matt not as the daredevil but instead she had used his true name. Emily's eyes widened and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Frank raising a hand for her to stop.

Almost as if Frank read her mind he spat out, "Don't worry, I already know who red actually is. Let's just say that I owed him for something and evidently the day I decided to pay him back, I found that someone had ripped his mask off when he was fighting."

Emily let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. Matt was the only person she could really stand to talk to nowadays, even though most of their talking was through arguments like the one she just had with him. Nonetheless, the last thing she wanted to do was to give away his real identity—even if she was still agitated with the man.

The two of them again just stood there looking at each other. They probably have only said less than a hundred words to each other and it was starting to show. Frank still had his defense on high alert and this made Emily put up her own walls as well.

"Anyway, I guess I should say thanks for catching me then."

"Yeah, no problem. It seems like you are making a habit out of it though…"

"What falling?" Emily said, quick to retort.

Frank rubbed his nose and looked at the ground concealing the slight turning up of the corners of his mouth. He didn't know what it was about this girl, but whenever he was around her he felt lighter—he only hoped that this feeling wouldn't come around to bite him in the ass. He had sworn off any real relationships with anyone due to his line of work nowadays.

"Nah, I mean with me coming to save you Doc. You need to be more careful."

Emily blushed slightly at his comment and tore her gaze away from Frank's as the awkwardness and tension seemed to be slightly lifted. Frank lazily followed Emily's movements as she was not one to stand still. It fascinated him that sometimes she would catch herself in the midst of playing with her hair or picking at her fingernails or something along the lines of that and abruptly, almost comically, stop doing that motion. When she realized that she was playing with her hair, this was when Frank decided to settle on the view of the skyline as to not startle her by letting her know that he was watching her.

Emily picked up her head and started to do the exact same thing that Frank had done with her. She could see that he was recently in a fight given that his knuckles still had blood on them from earlier in the day. Granted she didn't know if the blood that still lingered was his or someone else's, and she couldn't help but to think that she really didn't want to know. Emily started to scratch her head as she noticed the patch job that she did on his armor was starting to come undone. Not to mention that the firearm that was slightly hidden beneath his dark clothing and the twilight glow surrounding them, was slightly out of place. Not out of place in the sense that Frank had a gun, but the slight glance that Emily took of it, she knew that something was wrong with it.

"Did something happen to your firearm?"

Frank turned his head back to look at the girl in front of him a little taken a back. Frank's eye's widened slightly stared directly into Emily's bright blue ones. Even with the darkness surrounding them, her eyes were like crystals with the cascade of faint light from the buildings that were around them. However, this was not what Frank wanted to think about at the moment. It was the question she asked that put Frank on the defense.

"Why do you say that?" Frank stiffly said watching Emily's every move.

Emily took a deep breath and rushed out her next words, "I say that because the frame of your sidearm is contorted at a weird angle making me believe that the barrel of the gun has to be slightly off center. And the reason why it would get like that would mean that you were probably using it to whack a few skulls with it. Which, also, in turn means that the inner mechanisms of that gun is shot to hell. Unless you take it to someone who really knows how to take apart that gun and reassemble it while pushing all the right things back into place."

Frank was a little shocked at Emily's analysis, not to mention that she was able to do this all with a quick glance to the piece he was carrying that rested on his hip. Emily watched as Frank stood guarded with her comment about his weapon. Shaking her head, she told herself that she really needed to stop drinking and butting into things that she had no business in getting into.

"How did you know all that was wrong with it?"

Emily locked eyes with Frank once again and could see the curiosity that had replaced the questioning look he held earlier, even through the thick guard he had put up.

"Because, you and red are not the only two that have _special_ abilities," Emily stated bluntly.

Emily cringed at her own voice. Not many people knew about what she could do and she was about to tell a complete stranger. However, to her credit, her remark only made Frank scoff at her.

"And what ability would it be that I possess?"

"Well you can shoot your guns of yours really well."

"Yeah well that is all my years of military training there, hate to break it to you Doc."

"Heh, I think we both know that there is something a little more or else you wouldn't have as much uhh… _success,_ if you could call it that."

"Yeah well for all intents and purposes let's just day that I have a unique ability, what about you and red then?"

"Well, we both know that the devil of Hell's Kitchen is blind but he is fighting people and flipping off of buildings so I think that in and of itself is explanatory."

"That still doesn't explain why you know so much Doc."

"Well that is my ability."

"What is? Looking at shit and knowing what is wrong with it?"

"Kind of. But it is more along the lines of seeing that something is broken and looking at it and instantly knowing how to fix it I guess. That's the best way I can explain it."

"That is probably why you were such a great surgeon at such a young age right? You cheated knowing full well you already knew how to do everything."

"I see that you read up on me a little…"

Frank just shrugged his shoulders not letting Emily change the subject.

Letting out a deep sigh, Emily continued, "I didn't cheat in that sense. Lectures were actually really hard to get through, but I got straight A's in all my practicum. It is more like I knew the ability I processed and decided to help people with it… but evidently that ended up back firing on me…" Emily muttered the last few words almost to the extent that Frank couldn't hear her and instantly shut her mouth when she found herself blabbering about things she wasn't ready to talk about.

Emily trialed off and started to rock back and forth on her heels as this conversation was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She barely knew this man and she was opening up to him like he had been her friend for years. Not even her old friends that she used to hang out with at the hospital, like Claire, knew all that she was capable of doing, so why was Emily letting this man in?

"Is that why red was saying to get over someone dying? Did you lose someone close to you on the table or something?"

Emily abruptly stopped moving and stood as still as possible. She hesitantly met Frank's eyes as her own glossed over. One could slice a knife through the tension that had built up between the two in just a few short sentences. Emily was feeling claustrophobic, as if everything was caving in around her, even though she was outside and on a roof.

"…Yeah, something like that…" Emily adverted her eyes from Frank's trained ones as she spoke.

Frank could see the uneasiness of Emily's body, not to mention the strain in her voice. Whatever it was that happened to her, messed this her up in the head. He could see the sweat start to trickle down from her hairline as he saw her wrap her arms around herself, almost as if to protect herself from an unknown force or coldness that threatened to take over. Her breath started to become uneven as her chest started to rise and fall at an unsteady pace. Frank knew that it was slight and she probably didn't even notice what was happening as her emotions where overloading her head. But, Frank knew that if he let her stay trapped in her thoughts any longer, he had a feeling that she was probably going to eventually have a panic attack.

So, he did the only thing he could really think of doing, as he placed a hand on the back of his neck and rubbed his skin that was located there. Even though he really didn't like to do so, making small talk that is, he opened his mouth and started to talk to the girl in front of him trying to get her to calm down. He tried what always seemed to help him—thinking about something else.

"Well Doc, I guess I'm a costumer then."

Emily blinked a few times as if she could get rid of the past moment. With just one statement from Frank, it brought her out of her head. Frank was right in the fact that she didn't really know that she was exhibiting signs of a panic attack. To her, it just seemed like she was getting lost in the past again. Taking a deep breath and dropping her arms to her sides once again, she was able to take back a semblance of her normal breathing pattern and had slightly stopped shaking.

"What?"

"I mean it Doc."

"Mean what, exactly?"

"I'm going to put you to the test and have you fix this broken hunk of metal here on my hip and if you can do that, well I guess you will have a new costumer."

Emily couldn't really fathom what she was hearing. Frank wanted her to be his personal mechanic at the sound of it. He was giving her a test—one that she knew she would easily pass. So, without thinking she extended her hand out to shake Frank's.

"It's a deal then, _Mr. Castle_."

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 **Hehehehe so what do you all think? Emily has mutant powers and Frank and her have a deal that is more than just being roommates now... I wonder what is going to transpire! *gasp***


	12. Chapter 11

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Lucy:** **Well I am glad that last chapter was such a twist for you! And about repayment... don't worry things will start to heat up eventually *eye brow wiggle***

 **Kati** **e** **R.:** **I thought so too! I figured that her being that way would help her in what she does.**

 **Random: Thank you for your support as always :)**

 _ **I do not own or have any rights to the song "Dancing Queen" by Abba.**_

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Frank woke up to soft music playing through the thin walls of Emily's apartment. He opened his eyes to find himself laying on the bed that Emily had once stitched him up on when he pulled and broke his stitches from flailing around when he first met her. Rubbing a hand down his face he tried to remember what had happened the night before in the sense that he didn't remember falling asleep nor did he remember laying down on the bed. Taking a deep breath, the foggy memories started to replay themselves to the best of his abilities.

He remembered stopping Emily from having a panic attack and then after that, they went downstairs and went their separate ways. She went into the room where she presumably fixed things for her clients while he just headed to the one that he had assumed that Emily was letting him use. After he put his stuff down and wiped off the blood that had dried on his knuckles, he had decided to take a real look around the apartment as Emily was busy. He remembered sitting down and watching some T.V. with Max and then when he got bored of that, he found himself heading to the room he was currently staying in.

When he walked into the room the night before, he found the small bathroom that barely held a toilet, sink, and shower. He didn't know how long it had been since he had a warm shower, so that was what he did. He let the hot water rush over all of his muscles, scars, injuries, and bruises, and then when he got dressed and sat down on the bed, it just seemed like everything had caught up with him as he drifted off to sleep. He didn't remember the last time that he had actually slept a full eight hours and his body was thankful that he had finally got some of the rest he so desperately needed.

Frank swung his legs off of the bed and stood up rotating his head on his neck as if to stretch it out. He also rolled his shoulders back and forth to try and take some of the stiffness and soreness out of them. Frank sighed and opened the door that lead out into the living area of the apartment only to be greeted by a bouncing ball of fur.

"Hey, Max" Frank greeted petting him on the head.

Maxed looked up at Frank with his tongue out of his mouth and to the side. Frank continued on towards the kitchen with Max on his heels and rounded the corner eying a small coffee pot. He let out a very uncharacteristic yawn and moved towards the nectar of the gods. He noticed that there was already a warm pot of the liquid sitting there as if some was just made recently.

Looking around for a mug, Frank finally came across a plain black one in the cabinet above the brewed coffee. He grabbed it and started to pour the liquid into the cup feeling the heat seep through the ceramic and warm his callous hands. He closed his eyes as a took a swift drink and felt the warmness travel down his throat and into his stomach.

When he opened his eyes, Max suddenly bumped into him and his tail was smacking up against the wood base of the counters in the small enclosure of the kitchen. Frank sighed slightly remembering how much Max loved attention. Granted, he had been living without Frank for a while so he couldn't fault the dog for wanting to spend time with him.

Frank was bent over slightly, petting Max as he noticed the music from before, which made him come out of his slumber, become louder as a slightly off pitch and key joined the song that was playing. Frank looked at Max and the dog simply responded by cocking his head to the side as if to say "I don't know who is singing either."

Frank made the executive decision to pour some more coffee into his mug before he went to explore the sound.

* * *

Emily had fixed Frank's gun from the night before and she was starting to work on all the other broken and untraceable weapons that she had laying around. She had accumulated them since she had opened her little business and some of her more _undesirable_ customers seemed to bring her an abundance of weapons—more than she ever knew what to do with. She figured that with a man like Frank hanging around, she could easily fix up these guns and the ones Frank normally used, in repayment for keeping an eye out for her.

Not to mention that she had also made a few calls earlier in the morning to put in an order for new armor for Frank, given that the patch jobs she keeps performing on the chest piece is just not going to cut it anymore. She figured that she could probably do one more major patch up of the material before it would no longer work. Therefore, that is what she had started to work on. She had her heat gun on and she started to slowly melt the hard plastic around where the bullets had gone though. Not only that but she had some tape and bullet-resistant foam that she planned to place into the broken parts of the vest.

As she was fixing the chest piece, she got to wondering if there was any way to make the vest better in the sense that she could make the material wrap around Frank. For more explanation, she was thinking that she would design the material so it would make it so he would be less exposed, unlike the time he got shot and Emily had to perform life-saving surgery on him. However, pulling Emily out of her thoughts, one of her favorite songs came on the radio with the words to the song floating seamlessly around.

 _You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life / See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen…_

Emily couldn't help it as she got up and turned the radio up. And she did what any rational person would do when one of their favorite songs came on the radio—she started to sing along. Granted, it was off-pitch and key, but who was there to listen?

" _Friday night and the lights are low / Looking out for the place to go / Where they play the right music, getting in the swing / You come in to look for a king"_ Emily sang the tune as she skipped back to where she was once sitting.

However, she didn't come to sit on the stool, instead she thought that she should prance around the room and dance to the music as if she didn't have a care in the world. As she was dancing and singing, she never noticed a figure open the door, from where it was once ajar, and lean against the door frame watching her.

" _You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen / Dancing Queen feel the beat from the tambourine…"_ and at that moment, Emily heard someone sneezed and stopped spinning around as she whipped her head in the direction that the sound came from.

And there stood Frank leaning up against the door frame and Max just next to him shaking his head indicating that he was the one who had sneezed. Emily made eye contact with Frank and he was watching her with a trained eye but she could clearly see the hint of amusement that twinkled in them.

Emily's face turned warm and she knew that it was probably fifty different shades of pink and red. She quickly scampered towards the radio and turned the volume so low that it was almost turned off. She sucked in a deep breath and turned to face Frank who just stood there sipping his coffee with a slight smile that played on his lips before he spoke.

"Don't let me stop you. It was quite entertaining if I do say so myself."

Emily didn't know how to respond to Frank's comment so she just stood there in shock as she watched Max sniff around like he normally does. She shifted her weigh from foot to foot still not knowing what to do. So, Frank took it upon himself to say something.

"Don't worry about it I was—"

"I'msorryifIwokeyou" Emily said in a jumbled mess interrupting Frank.

"What?"

Emily took a deep breath and tried to shake off the embarrassment with no luck.

"I'm sorry if I woke you, with all my singing and dancing and… stuff" she shrugged.

Frank just nodded his head towards her not really responding. That was when he noticed his armor on the metal table, in the middle of the room, along with countless of guns of all shapes and sizes around the hard bullet-proof vest. Frank walked towards the table and picked up the gun that he handed Emily last night.

"How… how did you fix this in one night? It normally takes a master craftsman at least three…"

This was something that Emily could actually talk about. She could feel the embarrassment start to fad as the topic had changed from her onto a hunk of metal. So she joined Frank at the table and stood next to him as he marveled in her work.

"I told you, it is kind of my gift…" Emily shrugged once again hiding a slight smile.

Frank looked at Emily and a little bit of surprise was written there. To which Emily frowned slightly at the expression.

"What? Did you think I couldn't do it or something?"

"Actually, to be honest I didn't think you could. I thought you were lying slightly in the sense of how well you have honed your abilities… I never thought you could make something look and feel new."

"Not only that, but it should perform like new as well. I also took the liberty of fixing up all of these old guns. And before you ask, don't worry the vin number has been taken off of them so it's virtually untraceable..."

Frank didn't look at her this time, he placed down the gun he was holding, only to pick up a new one to test its weight out in the palm of his hand. He did this with several guns as Emily stood there watching him. He eventually made his way through all of the guns and then came to his pitiful looking armor.

The two stood there looking at it as Emily cleared her throat getting Frank's attention.

"Uhh… Speaking about your um… armor? I, uhh, took it upon myself to call around until I got an old friend of mine's number. And I placed in an order for a new vest for you. I also asked him to see if he can do anything about where you got shot last time and he said that he would try to work on it if I send him a design if I had one in mind."

Frank just locked eyes with Emily as he seemed to lower his head slightly to make it seem like they were closer together. He was merely inches away from placing his forehead to her own.

"I hope you didn't do anything stupid here Doc… I mean who the hell do you even know to call?"

Emily simply just held up her hand noticing the change in Frank's demeanor. She could tell that he had let his guard down—if only a little and she could also sense that he was worried about her, even if she may only be imagining it.

"Again, I'm not trying to say this harshly, but I can take care of myself—like I told red this morning. But to answer your question, I was trying to get in touch with a man named Melvin Potter. You may have heard of him—he used to word with Fisk…"

Emily could see Frank tense up as his once fallen guard was heightened instantly. She took this as a sign that Frank was not too fond of Fisk like she and the majority of the citizens in hell's kitchen. Emily quickly saved herself with her next sentence.

"However, now he helps _red,"_ Emily stated, while emphasizing red so Frank knew that Melvin wasn't a threat anymore and continued on, "…by making him his suit and he used to help around the hospital when Betsy, his wife I believe, was there. That is how I know him. I helped care for her and now he feels like he owes me, even though I was just doing my job at the time. So, I called him up and he was happy to help."

Emily was expecting a fight from the man in front of her but got something that was a little more surprising instead. Frank took a deep breath and closed his eyes turning his face away from hers and he whispered softly; so softly in fact, that if Emily wasn't focused on their conversation she would have missed it—the soft phrase that would start a new chapter of the relationship that was blossoming between the two.

"Thank you."

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 **Yes, Yes I know, this was a fluff chapter but don't worry, more action and drama will come...**


	13. Chapter 12

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 12**

 **Y'all I had a bad week so I apologize if this chapter is not any good… I tried.**

* * *

A week had past as Emily was stepping into her apartment with Max in tow. Both were hot and panting given that they just took a run through central park and back to their place of residence. After the morning that Frank had caught Emily singing, he left shortly after, gathering up the majority of his things. However, just before he left, Emily caught him and he abruptly stopped as they had a small exchange.

" _I hope that you won't be coming back needing stitches," Emily chuckled slightly._

" _Don't worry Doc, I'm just going out, I don't plan to get into much."_

" _Well, no one plans to get into bad situations either, but it happens."_

 _Frank had to fight back the smile that was tugging on the corner of his lips. He didn't know what it was, but she always seemed to have the perfect retort to his comments. He then decided to turn around and look at the girl and he was about to speak but she interrupted him first._

" _I know you probably won't tell me what it is you are actually going to be doing today or any day really… but please try to stay safe okay?"_

 _And it was at these words that his heart felt warm. He hadn't heard someone tell him to be safe in a very, very long time—and he liked the thought of hearing it again from her._

Emily was planning on just sticking around the house and catching up on some work after she took a shower since it was Saturday morning. She had a lot more business lately and wasn't able to fix everything due to the major influx of products. Making a mental checklist of what she had to do today, she unleashed a panting Max so he could go get some cold water and lay down on the cool wood floor.

Strolling into the kitchen on the hunt for a glass of cold water like Max, Emily opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. She placed the bottle to her lips and took slow sips of the liquid to make sure she didn't give herself cramps due to her coming back from a run only moments before. With water in hand, Emily went back out to the living room and moved into her room in order to go to the bathroom.

Once she got in there she turned on the shower and stripped off her sweaty clothes, tossing them onto the ground and pulled out her hair tie flinging it somewhere onto the sink. Without waiting for the water to heat up, Emily moved the curtain to the side and stepped in letting the cold water cool her sweaty body down and evidently give her a chill.

Emily shivered slightly as the hot water finally started to kick in and she ran her hands through her hair while slightly warmer water rushed over her face and body. Taking in a deep breath of steam, she tried to ready herself for a day of long and mundane work.

* * *

Emily stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel that was hanging up on the wall. She quickly dried off her body and wrapped the towel around herself. She then reached for a second

one to wrap her hair up. Bending her head down slightly and pushing all of her hair in front of her face, she swiftly wrapped her hair into the towel.

Sighing about the work she really didn't want to do Emily stepped out of the small bathroom and made her way to her dresser. Only to be met with an unfamiliar sight in the morning hours, and it was so shocking that Emily let out a terrified scream.

"Damn, Emily you don't have to scream I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Well next time don't give me a heart attack as I am just getting out of the shower, Matthew!"

"I didn't know that you were in—"

"Get out of here already Matt!" Emily screamed at the man in red.

And with that Matt retreated to the safety of the living room, escaping Emily's scared and rage-filled sentences. Emily took a deep breath and went up to her bedroom door locking it—even though she knew that in the long run it wouldn't matter. Anyway, she quickly threw on a plain black sweater matching it with a pair of navy blue skinny jeans. Also, she found a hair brush and decided that she would just brush her hair and listen to whatever problem Matt got himself into again.

* * *

"I need you to get Frank over here."

"And how exactly do you propose I do that Matt?"

"Can't you call him or something? Didn't he tell you where he was going?"

"I am not his keeper Matthew. And to answer your question, no I do not have his phone number."

"Well is there another way—"

"I just told you Matt, I do not know okay? Plus, what makes you think that I will help you since our last conversation we had didn't go so well. Not to mention, that you just come into my apartment uninvited _demanding_ that I help you locate Frank, in which I have repeatedly told you that I have no idea where he is nor do I have a way to get in contact with the man. And to top it all off you have yet to even apologize for how you treated me the last time…"

However, Emily knew that she wouldn't have to have an apology from the man in red. She would help him regardless, given the fact that she knew that he wouldn't be coming to her unless he really did need help with the situation that he got himself in. Emily sighed and ran a hand through her neatly brushed hair.

"Why do you need Frank anyway? Especially since it is almost in the middle of the day, now…" Emily sighed.

"Emily I can't—"

"Don't give me that shit Matt. I can't help you unless I know what it is you are in so desperate need to tell Frank about…"

Matt casually strolled over to the bar stool against the kitchen counter and pulled it out to sit next to Emily. Once he sat down he took off his mask, setting it on the counter next to him and ran a hand through his hair, as he closed his eyes before he spoke.

"I have a reason to believe that the recent Russian uprising is more than just that…"

"What do you mean by that?" Emily looked at him suspiciously not knowing where he was going with this.

Matt opened his eyes and did not move his head to try to meet Emily's eyes. Instead he kept them casted down towards the hard-wood flooring.

"They are using money laundering schemes to help front their cocaine business and evidently their human trafficking business as well. Not only that, but I have a theory that they plan on starting an all-out war with the Chinese which, in turn, will lead to an all-out blood bath here in Hell's Kitchen..."

Emily sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She never knew how she always managed to end up in these types of situations but if she was going to admit anything to herself, she knew that Hell's Kitchen did seem more dangerous than usual lately; and that was saying something.

"…and all I really wanted you to say you were sorry," Emily chuckled slightly not believing what she was hearing.

This made Matt laugh slightly along with her. It was probably due to the stress of this new information that had them both laughing and it was almost as if the two of them knew that things in Hell's Kitchen seemed to be getting more and more obscene as time went on.

"Well, I will try my best to find Frank and when or if I do, I will let you know. Now go home and go take a shower and maybe go take a nap or something. You look like you are about to pass out."

Matt took another deep sigh and pushed his aching body off from the chair and headed towards the window in which he entered in from, that also held the fire escape.

"My work is never done, you know that."

"I know you feel like that, but there is nothing wrong with taking a few hours off in order to stay healthy."

"I am—"

"Doctors orders Matthew. No arguing here."

Matt turned and cracked a smile as he stepped out through the window and onto the fire escape.

"Thank you Emily…"

Emily rolled her eyes at Matt before responding.

"You're welcome. I would say anytime but I have a feeling that you may actually take me up on that."

"Heh, I probably would, I mean I have been needing your help for a while now. I should just make you my sidekick at this point."

Emily made fake gagging sounds as Matt laughed.

"Oh and one more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

With this, Matt jumped off of the fire escape and went presumably home making sure to try and follow Emily's orders.

* * *

Emily sat at her desk with her laptop open trying to find any information which may lead to finding Frank. She had called the Personal Investigator that she knew and the women said that she would look into it given that Emily had sent her some expensive paying customers as of late. Staring at her laptop she took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair for the hundredth time.

She decided that looking at the bright computer screen all day in her now dark office, was not conducive in finding out any new information. So, she pushed back her hair and grabbed her mug and headed towards the kitchen to fill it up with more bitter tasting coffee. She had planned on getting her own work done, but it was imperative that she find Frank given all that Matt had told her.

Reaching the coffee pot, she poured the lukewarm liquid into the mug and put the pot back on the burner. She walked out of the kitchen and went into her work room to access all of what she had left to do. It was a lot given that she only had the rest of tonight and Sunday to get the orders fulfilled for Monday.

Taking a deep swig of coffee, she meandered over to her work station and used her thumb to scratch her forehead. She exhaled forcefully looking at the mess that was there, with all of her tools spread out over the metal table. Deciding there was no better time to clean up and give her a break from getting nowhere in her searches, she started picking up tools and supplies and putting them back in their respective bins.

That was when it just so happened that Emily spotted a bright green sticky note, like the ones she had in her kitchen, so she could jot down a few notes so she wouldn't forget. Emily casually placed her coffee on the table and slide the sticky note out from under one of the guns that Emily was fixing up for Frank.

 _Doc, in case you need this for some reason, the number for my burner… 917-xxx-xxxx_

Emily shook her head and cursed herself silently. She couldn't believe her luck and misfortune of not coming in here earlier. She moved her hair, that had once again fallen in front of her face, behind her ear and quickly reached into her back pocket for her phone. Pushing the home button of the smartphone, she noticed that it was about to die. Without thinking, she ran out of the room and back towards her office since that was where her phone charger currently was.

She quickly hooked up the white wire to her phone and opened up the keypad so she could type in the number that she found. She quickly typed in the number and pressed the phone to her ear. She could hear the ringing from the connection being made.

 _Ring_ …

'Come on Frank please pick up' Emily thought to herself.

 _Ring…_

Emily took a deep sigh hoping that she would catch him since she knew burners didn't always come with the ability to leave a voicemail.

 _Ring…_

That was the third and final ring and evidently, before the phone line was disconnected a husky voice sounded on the other end of the retriever as Emily let out a sigh of relief.

" _What do you want? I already told you that I wasn't interested in buying any of your guys' shit…"_

"Uhhhh… Frank its Emily" she gulped and covered her face with her hand realizing that she probably sounded really stupid.

" _Wait… Whats wrong Doc? Are you okay? What happened?"_

Emily could practically feel his intensity through his words alone, and if she didn't know any better she would have even said that he sounded worried.

"No, no it isn't anything like that—"

" _Then why did you call me, Doc? No offense or nothin' but I didn't think you were one to keep tabs and plus I'm a little busy at the moment—"_

"I'm not, I uhh… Well Matt came to see me and he was looking for you. He seemed to have new information about the Russians and it was really important that he got in contact with you and I just saw the note you left me and I figured that this was a good enough reason to contact you…" Emily rambled on.

Emily heard Frank sigh deeply on the other end as she heard sirens go off in the distance indicating that Frank was probably close enough to a crime scene, or was a part of one. Emily was brought out of her train of thought when the deep voice sighed again.

"… _Where are you now?"_

"I'm at my apartment, why do you ask?"

" _Because I'm coming to you now, so don't move."_

Emily heard the line go dead and without knowing it she had placed a hand to her flushed cheeks. He was just coming to her apartment so Matt could tell him what new information he had gathered, she tried telling herself. However, even though she kept repeating this thought, it didn't stop herself from getting butterflies in her stomach. She tried to push any of those thoughts out of her head, as she picked up her phone again, taking a deep breath, and dialed Matt's number.


	14. Chapter 13

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 13**

* * *

 **Hey guys! I am sorry that I am posting this now! I had a test in my separations class (chemical engineering course) and it was worth 40% of my grade… so I was a little drained when I came home on Friday. And then on Saturday I had to catch up with all my other homework. But I should be resuming updating on Fridays again so Don't worry! So now, I give to you the next chapter!**

* * *

 **Gapo:** **Gracias!**

 **Random:** **Haha yeah it isn't as great as my previous chapters (in regards to the last one). I had a pretty bad week and I didn't spend a lot of time going through and editing it. I tried to take your advice and added in some of Emily's thoughts to this one. I try to pre-write the chapters and then go back to edit them so in the late "teen" chapters I will try to do a better job in explaining what Emily is thinking.**

 **Guest:** **Hehe… Maybe he does, Maybe he doesn't…**

 **Lucy:** **Yes I have! His hair is really fluffy! I know that he was recently in a movie that just came out called the "accountant" so I think he had to grow out his hair for the role he plays in that. So, I'm assuming that he is going to keep that look for a few episodes and then we will see his crew-cut again. Are you a Kastle fan? Because I know a lot of people on tumblr were freaking out about seeing the actress that plays Karen sitting on a Bench next to the guy who plays Frank.**

* * *

Emily sat around waiting for both Matt and Frank to arrive at her apartment. Matt was even less excited to get a phone call from her, than Frank was. She figured that Matt took her advice to get some sleep since he grouchily answered the phone. That, and he could have been recovering from his vigilante filled nights—as all of the drinking and fighting was catching up with his body.

Deciding that it was as good as a time as any, she started to clean up the kitchen and busy herself. She didn't know why but she was nervous to have both Frank and Matthew under the same roof, in a small room, which could easily be lit on fire from the tension that was generated between the two of them when they were together. It was like slowly striking a match. On the first strike it may not light, but on the second or third try, with the newly added force, it will ignite. That was what Frank and Matt's relationship was like—and Emily was caught in the middle of it.

Picking up all the loose ends around her apartment, she never noticed Frank enter through the window and basically come to stand directly behind her. As Emily swung around on the balls of her feet from picking up the last mug that was on her coffee table, she ran smack dab into his chest.

"Hump…" Emily said with the rush of air coming from her mouth.

Emily looked up at the mass that was blocking her pivot and realized that she smacked into Frank. Taking a step back and casually rubbing her nose, she spoke.

"Shit… I'm sorry I didn't see or hear you come in…"

"It's okay ma'am. I should have made a noise."

"What did I say about calling me ma'am, Frank?" Emily grinned as there was a hint of laughter in her eyes.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you are okay, _Doc…_ you… nevermind"

Emily cocked her head to the side as she watched Frank scratch his nose. It was almost like he was about to say that he worried her… but Emily couldn't sit on the thought as Max came barreling towards the two of them. Emily quickly sidestepped to avoid the seventy-pound beast as the ball of fur hurled its way towards Frank.

Frank took it all in stride as the dog barely made him move from the force of jumping on him all the while with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Emily always liked how Frank interacted with Max, since he always seemed to act more _normal_. His face seemed to light up and his body relaxed slightly, and Emily could tell by the way that his shoulders seem to loosen. It was as if in the instant he was petting Max; he was able to not have the world on his shoulders.

'I wish that I could bear some of that weight…' Emily thought to herself and looked at Frank leaning down to rub Max's belly. She wanted to keep this picture engrained in her head as long as she could because she knew that this scene wouldn't be happening again anytime soon. All the while, Emily knew that not only did she want to remember this image, but she felt like she wanted to make sure Frank could always come here and feel like he didn't have to put up his walls.

She wanted to make a place where Frank knew that he could trust someone so that the weight of the world wasn't crashing down on his shoulders alone… that it was a shared effort between the two of them. Emily was about to elaborate more on the thought but she heard a knocking sound towards her open window, the one that Frank just came through.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything here" Matt coughed trying in vain to clear his throat.

Emily turned her head to look at the man in red and saw him motioning in-between Frank and herself. She didn't realize it, but she was softly touching the leather of Frank's jacket with her hand. She must have reached out to make contact with him when she was mentally trying to explain that she could be the one that was there for him. Being self-conscious about the proximity of her and Frank, since Matt pointed it out, she quickly dropped her hand and stepped away. She instantly felt her hand turn to ice again as it wasn't holding onto Frank's warmth anymore. Even though it was a subtle touch, she could still feel the heat radiate through the thick leather, that Frank wore, like it was coming off of a furnace.

"No, umm, actually you are just in time. Frank just got here and I was just about to throw these into the dishwasher. I'll be right back…" Emily rushed out while awkwardly smiling at Matt trying to dodge looking at him in the eyes to conceal her embarrassment.

Emily scampered off to the kitchen with her face flushed with a few different shades of pink. However, she was able to steal a glance at Frank before she retreated completely to the kitchen and he seemed to have his guard up tenfold. Not to mention, that when Emily moved away from Frank it was like both _agitation and jealousy_ ran across his face due to her moving away from him. But, it could have been her imagination that was playing tricks on her since never in a million years Frank could see her in in that kind of way Emily thought to herself.

* * *

"So my question is, how do you want to go about this?"

"What do you mean? It is simple we just—"

"We cannot go in there guns blazing, Frank. You're supposed to be dead and I don't want to be the one to accidentally start a war between the two biggest crime bosses in the kitchen. Furthermore, we don't have actual proof that they are planning this, and so if we do go in to scout things out and things do get messy, you still can't go around killing people…"

Emily was sitting on the counter with her legs swinging back and forth listening to Frank and Matt banter like they have been for the past twenty minutes. The only time they stopped was when Emily offered Frank a cup of coffee since she was bored listening to them bicker and Matt gave her a look because she didn't bother bringing him one. At that time, Emily just shrugged even though Matt couldn't see. It was like her own way of taking Frank's side in the debate. So, back to the present time, Matt was once again trying to lecture Frank and she saw Frank take a sip of the coffee trying to contain his anger that the held towards the man in red.

It may have just been her imagination, but each time he took a sip of coffee a warm expression washed over his face, if only for a brief instance. Also, she realized that since she gave him the coffee, he wasn't lashing out at Matt as much. He was trying to take everything in stride, maybe, if she was selfish enough to believe it, it was for her sake that he was trying to remain so calm.

Emily took a sip of her own poured coffee as she glanced at Max who decided that Matt wasn't much of a threat anymore since Frank was here. Max was casually laying on the couch with his head propped up on a pillow carefully watching the two men argue. Taking a deep breath, Emily sighed, seeing as this was not really a conversation she intended to have at her apartment. She didn't know why they didn't move to the roof, but she would have been lying if she didn't say that she was happy to be included, only if she was really eavesdropping.

Emily brought the cup closer to her face as she could feel some of the steam rise up to warm her skin. In just the past few weeks, the weather had abruptly became colder and now the weathermen were calling for a chance of snow in the early weeks of November. Not to mention that her birthday was right around the corner on December twelfth…

"Goddamit Frank! We are not just charging into the Russian's new business front! There will be innocent bystanders and I will not let you hurt them."

"I don't think that you know that I don't hurt just anyone. I only hurt people who deserve it, and those men, they deserve everything that is coming to them. They are selling drugs to minors, trafficking women, and not to mention they keep having shipments for illegal guns that we now know is going to be used to start a war against the Chinese over drugs. So, _red_ , I think that we go into that strip joint and actually do some good in this city…"

Emily snapped her head at the two seething men. It almost looked as if Frank was ready to launch the ceramic mug at Matt's face, since his grip on the handle was so tight. Matt looked like he was equally as much about to pounce on the man opposing him. Emily didn't know if she should get in the middle of the two now, since she didn't want them to start fighting and evidently break the small amount of furniture that her apartment held.

But, evidently, it did not come down to that as the two seemed to take it down a notch, remembering where they were as they went back to harsh whispers and strong-willed opinions. Emily just shook her head at the two. They both had such strong values and morals, it was just a case in that they believed that their way was better and their own respective ways produced a better effect and outcome at the end of the day.

However, while running back over the words that Frank and Matt just exchanged, she started to put two and two together. The Russians were using a strip club, presuming to be in the red light district, to front their money laundering. Not only that, but it seemed like the main hub where anyone who is anybody goes there to get the latest news on what their group was doing. So, this gave Emily an idea… an idea to call an old friend that may not be too pleased to hear from her after her long hiatus.

Emily silently placed her mug on the counter beside her and hopped off the counter. She casually walked towards her office without Frank or Matt even bothering to see where she was going. So, she strolled into her office and shut the door slightly, so it was only about an inch ajar. Then, she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled to the name that she didn't think she was going to ever talk to again.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button and held the phone up to her ear. The person she was calling let the phone ring twice before she heard a pounding bass sound in the background.

" _Hello?"_ a voice screamed through the speaker.

"Hey, it's me, I need a favor…"

" _Wait a second, I can't hear you…"_

Emily heard a rustling sound and then it seemed as if the loud music just suddenly stopped.

" _okay, sorry about that. Now, I don't know who is calling but I think you may have the wrong number…"_

"Sal, it is me. I'm just calling because I need a favor from you and I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important."

" _Listen lady, I don't know what you heard but my nights of being an escort are long over. You can thank my father for that one. So I'm going to hang up now and you have a nice rest of your night…"_

"Salvador Ivanov, its Emily Crawford from New York Presbyterian… and don't you dare hang up this phone…" Emily spat out a little harshly.

There was a silence on the line and a few strings of curse words that Emily couldn't make out along with what sounded like a deep breath from the man on the other end of the line. After a long, awkward silence, Sal spoke hesitantly.

" _Emily, is that really you? I just… I haven't heard from you since you know…"_

"Yeah… I uhh…"

" _Is everything okay? I mean no offense or anything but this is a little out of the blue. The last time I heard from you was when you left me that message apologizing for not making it to my mother's wake when she passed…"_

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for it, you know that."

" _Yeah I do, and I don't blame you for missing it either. I mean she never wanted you to see her like that. She loved you like her own daughter."_

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. This was not where she wanted this conversation to go; granted she knew that is was going to eventually take this path given that she called him up. But, Sal decided to move past this and continue on with the conversation so Emily could dodge some of the small talk that was transpiring.

" _Anyway, I know this isn't the reason why you called and I don't mean to sound rushed but I am kind of a manager here, so I need to get back onto the floor to make sure that the costumers aren't getting too rowdy…"_

"Right… so this is kind of a big favor but with your connections and all I am looking to get myself and a few others into this new club that the Russians have on the red light district, do you know the one?"

" _Well, there is one that just started up out of nowhere, but as you know I'm not really in that life anymore…"_

"Yeah, I need to get into that one."

" _I can see what I can do but why do you need to go there? It really isn't a place you should go given all of the issues that have been happening lately. Plus, only recently that punisher guy was running around and they still haven't caught that guy who dresses up in that stupid red ninja costume…"_

Emily cleared her throat indicating that Sal was getting off topic.

" _Anyway, I'll make a few calls and see what I can do. I have to warn you though…"_

"Warn me about what?"

" _This isn't your typical strip joint, from what I heard. It's like this sort of escort service where men go to basically buy premium product to word it nicely."_

Emily sort of winced at the warning and started fiddling with the corner of her desk.

"Thank you for the heads up. But let me know if you can get me in there, preferably tonight. My friends have some business and that's the reason for all of this."

"… _If your friends are involved with the type of people who are running that place, then I have to say that you should probably start picking new friends Emily. Granted, I'm not one to judge" Sal chuckled sourly._

"Anyway, let me know once you have more information," Emily continued on ignoring the comment.

" _I will, don't worry."_

"Thanks again, Sal."

However, before Emily hung up the phone she heard her name being called through the speaker.

"Yeah?"

" _I hate to do this to you, but if I do get you into this place, you owe me one."_

"Okay, yeah that is fair. What do you want? Do you need me to swing around your club and fix something? Or dispose of something that one of your clients left?"

" _I need you to pick up some hours at the free clinic I started. We are shorthanded right now and I would only make you come in once. There is this little boy and—"_

"No, I can't do that."

" _What do you mean no?"_

"You know that I don't work as a doctor anymore and I don't help people like that and—"

" _And what? This seven-year-old kid may lose his arm and there is no one else that I can ask. Do this one thing and I will call us even and get you into that club tonight by any means necessary. Please just help me out here…"_

Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She knew that if she could diagnose the boy and preform any work that needed to be done in ample time, she wouldn't go into shock. It just depended on how long she could stand being under the light and against an operating table again…

Taking her time to run through her thoughts she saw no other option than this. Matt and Frank needed to get into that place and this was the only way to do it and get the information they needed: tonight.

Emily gulped down the air that was constricting her throat and fought with her mouth as she heard herself voice, "It is a deal. Just tell me when and where I need to show up. Just make sure that the boy is there and everything to that nature."

" _I'm glad to hear it. Give me ten and I will let you know if I got your name on the list."_

With that Emily heard a click on the other end of the line and she tossed her phone onto the desk. She could feel a cold sweat start to form at the base of her neck as she placed hand there. She rubbed the skin there and rolled her head from side to side. She knew that it was a disaster waiting to happen when he evidently will call her to go to work at the free clinic. However, it was necessary in order to help Matt and Frank and with their quest of ridding the evil from Hell's kitchen.

Emily swiftly turned around with her hand still on her neck and her eyes glancing downward towards the floor, she reached for the door knob. But, just as she was about to grab onto the cool metal, it was pushed open. She noticed a pair of black boats in front of her; looking up, she saw two pairs of eyes watching her. One was that of Matt who seemed a little too excited that he was going to be finding out new information tonight and virtually breaking into the main hideout of the Russians; and the other belonged to a seething Frank Castle who couldn't believe what she had just done.


	15. Chapter 14

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 14**

 **jj: Just wait... It gets better**

 **Katie** **R:** **He does get like that in this chapter! And just wait for the next few ones... heheheheheehhe**

 **Lucy:** **Haha yeah, I like Karen too. However whenever I see that actress all I can think about is calling her "Jessica" from her role in True Blood. I always thought that Karen and Foggy would get together (I know, weird right?) but I can see what you mean. I think that if he got a little bit of hair trim then he would go from cute to "dammmnnnnn you fine son!" lol**

* * *

"What the hell did you do?"

Emily just looked up Frank questionably. She didn't know what had angered him so much.

"What do you mean?"

"Doc, why are you getting involved with this shit again?" Frank almost screamed at her.

Emily was taken aback by Frank's reaction. She was sure that both he and Matt would be a little more joyful that she fixed their problem for them, but boy was she was wrong about that. Matt seemed thankful but Frank just seemed downright mad at her for calling someone she knew to help them out.

"Frank, lay off of her, she was just trying to help" Matt decided to finally pipe up tryong to ease the tension.

"No, I will not 'lay off of her _red_ ,'" Frank stated with malice in his voice, "She has no right getting involved in this business and I will not allow her to go."

Emily didn't know how she felt about the way Frank was treating her. On one hand she was happy that he cared enough about her to not put her in the way of oncoming danger, but on the other hand, her strong-willed, feminine side never cared much for letting anyone tell her what to do with her life and usually that side of her won out over the softer side.

"Well, with all due respect, you can't stop me from going Frank," Emily said, taking a step closer to Frank so they were mere inches apart.

"Again, both you and Matthew seem to forget that I am a grown woman and I can make my own goddamn decisions. Now, you can either thank me for helping you out and we can plan what we are going to do, or we can stand here yelling at each other and missing our only opportunity to get insight on what the Russians are planning," Emily let out a huff to indicate that she was done with her rant.

Frank squeezed the bridge of his nose with his fingers and sighed deeply. It was for this very reason why he tried not to have relationships with anyone these days. He knew that she was going to fight him on this and a part of him knew that she had every right to make her own decision… but a small part of him filled with a pit of worry over her safety. She had managed to etch a piece of herself on him without him ever realizing it. Also, without really thinking too much into it, he felt that he would be damned if he let anything happen to her… so he did something he never knew he was capable of: he pleaded with her.

"Doc, please just listen to me on this. I know you are trying to help but red and I, but we can do this alone. You don't belong in our world, and I am not trying to be harsh about the facts. But I just can't stand here and do nothing; I'm not the one who is going to pull you into this mess."

Emily stood there looking up into Frank's eyes. She had a feeling that if he was talking to anyone else, he wouldn't care what they would say or think; but he somehow cared about her. Maybe it was just because she saved him and gave him a place to sleep at night—he was just trying to repay her—even though he never had too. This made Emily's heart sink, because if she was going to be honest with herself, she found that she was thinking more and more about the man in front of her now—and how it would feel to be wrapped up in his arms…

"Thanks for looking out for me Frank, really, I appreciate it…" Emily closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, willing herself to finish her sentence. She knew that the feelings she may be developing were ones that would be unrequited and she should just stop herself from catching feelings for Frank before she ended up hurt. So she looked Frank in the eye, and finished her sentence with her shoulders back and a fierce look in her eyes.

"I appreciate all that you have done for me, but you don't have to pay me back or watch over me. I know I said that I needed help around the shop, but this is not one of those times where I may need you to intimate someone. I can take care of myself in most situations, and I think it would be beneficial to have me around. Plus, if I don't go how are you two going to get in?"

Matt just scoffed at her remark and Emily almost forgot he was there.

"Are you really asking us that? Matt responded.

"Heh, I have a guess of what you would do…" Emily dryly responded while rolling her eyes, pushing past Frank with her shoulder colliding into his.

She could feel Frank's demeanor shift as he became hard and callous again. It was almost as if her words pushed him to become rough around the edges again. When her shoulder collided with his, he never moved an inch, but she could feel her own anxiety radiate off of her own body and onto him.

"Anyway, Emily, do you know when this guy is—"

That was when Emily's phone chimed from her pocket and she rushed to check and see if it was Sal with the details that the group needed. She quickly typed in her pass code and read the text message from Sal.

 _Contacted some people I know and I got you in. I have business to attend to there anyway, so I will meet you and your friends there so there will not be as many questions. See you at 11pm. Oh and don't forget, it is black-tie attire._

Emily looked up from the phone and told the men in her living room about the text message.

"It looks like we are all set up and ready to go. All we need is a plan and he told us to meet him there at eleven so that gives us about two hours to plan and—"

"…"

Emily casually glanced at Frank when Matt stopped talking. Frank was just leaning against the door frame watching Emily. She sighed knowing what he was probably thinking.

"I am going. What will it look like if I don't show up?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders at Frank, pressing him to give his opinion on the matter, but Matt piped in, instead.

"I'm kind of with Frank on this one, Emily. I mean I have been getting you into a lot of useless stuff that I should have never gotten you into in the first place."

Emily sighed and shook her head slightly. It was hard enough bantering with one of them, she didn't need the two of them gaining up on her.

"I have to go because it will look suspicious for you guys to go into the club without a girl on your arm. Not to mention that Sal is my contact and I don't want him thinking that something bad happened to me."

Matt nodded his head and basically admitted defeat. Emily blew air out of her nose and caught Frank still looking at her through the corner of her eye.

"Alright, well I am going to head off and go get changed. When I get back we can discuss our plans on how to blend in and get what we need and get out."

With that, Matt charged through the living room and went out through the window, without any warning. Emily watched as Matt's red body vanished from view and it seemed that the tension eased up if only slightly and was now replaces with new static but this time it was between herself and Frank.

Sucking in some air, she thought about the fight she and Matt had and how easy it was to have him back down this time. Maybe he was trying not to argue with her again because he felt guilty; or maybe it was just so she could get him into the place and use her. Emily moved the hair that had managed to fall into her face during the discussion she was having with the two men.

Emily raked her hand through her hair and decided to pretend that Frank wasn't even there and so she moved towards the, not meeting the gaze she felt trained on her body. However, she never expected Frank to take three quick, full strides and catch her wrist in large hand.

Emily turned her head around when she felt the grip on her and looked up at Frank with a confused face. At first he was outright angry with her but now it seemed like there was a wash of pain written on his face replacing the anger that was once there. Emily locked eyes with Frank and felt him put a hand on her cheek, making her feel that nothing else mattered but the two of them right there in her apartment.

"There isn't a way I can change your mind is there?"

Emily swallowed trying to wrap her head around the vast emotions that Frank had displayed with her that evening. However, none of it seemed to matter with his hand warming u her cheek. She would be lying if she didn't enjoy it. In the pit of her stomach she felt it—that everything screamed that Frank was supposed to be there, comforting her, with his subtle, yet gentle caress of her face. However, instead of telling him the truth, she hid behind her walls.

"No, there isn't Frank."

* * *

Emily was in her room trying to decide what dress she was going to wear that would make her blend in with everyone around her. Sal's text message said something about having to wear something as if she was going to a black tie event. However, she assumed that she was never going to go to another event that she had to dress up that formally, so, she had thrown out majority of her fancy dresses.

Sighing deeply, she went through her closet once more noticing again how bare it was. She needed to do laundry, and she just didn't have many clothes anymore. It was basically the bare essentials and that was more than enough for her. She had her tees, and her sweaters. Plus, some pants, shorts, and a jacket or too for when it got cold out. Also, she did find some sun dresses in her closet as well—but those weren't suited for tonight.

Rubbing her eyes as if that would make anything appear, she turned around and stared at Max on her bed. After she told Frank that he couldn't stop her from going, he disappeared in the same manner that Matt took off without muttering a word after she spoke. Since then, Max has never left her side. He normally was close to her at all times, but it felt like Frank and Max had this never-spoken agreement to watch over her. Which, Emily thought was stupid that she even was thinking like that given that a man and a dog can't have a real conversation. But, who was she to judge since she was about to have her own conversation with the dog in front of her.

"Max, I don't know what to wear to this thing. It isn't like I can just show up in a black sweater and blue jeans like I am wearing now..."

Max just cocked his head to the side as he listened to Emily speak.

"I just don't know what to do. I wasn't really expecting to get wrapped up in all of this. And here I am complaining like a teenager that I can't find a bloody dress to wear," Emily hissed in frustration.

Taking another deep breath that she knew wasn't going to help her, she strolled into the kitchen so grab another cup of bitter coffee. She needed to stay up tonight not only to help her friends, but to keep the demons that terrorized her in her sleep at bay for a while. She grabbed a clean mug and went through the motions of filling it up and eventually putting the lukewarm liquid to her lips.

Emily strolled out of the kitchen and found herself gravitating to her mechanic room. She pushed open the door and evidently, heard Max jump from her bed to see what she was doing given that she didn't immediately go back into her room.

Looking around, Emily found the remnants of the pieces she was using to fix up all of the guns she had in her possession for Frank. She carefully moved her way to the table and found the old chest protector of Franks. She had finally patched up all she could with it and was just waiting for Melvin to send her the new pieces. Without knowing it, she found herself tracing the white skull on the black background of her blueprints that she drew for the new chest piece.

She eyed the skull and started to memorize how the paint would feel under her fingers when she finally had the product. She felt that the skull fit Frank's image. She knew all the stories that were flashed on t.v. about Frank and how on that fateful night his family died, he was struck with a bullet as well, and miraculously he survived even though the bullet struck his skull. It wasn't that, that made it an iconic symbol. She felt like it had to play on all the stories of good and evil and being judged by a person who would either send you to heaven—or hell.

Eventually taking her fingers off of the paper, she took a quick glance across the room. Her plans of getting stuff done were foiled for a day since she had to look for Frank and given the new information that the Russians were using an escort service as a front for their operations. She figured that if she put in a lot of work on Sunday and Monday during her down time, she would be able to meet the influx of customers that she had this past week.

Emily turned around on the heel of her foot and accidentally bumped into Max. His large body made Emily abruptly stop in her tracks as Max just gave her a lopsided grin with his tongue sticking out of his mouth.

"Hey boy, I'm okay you didn't have to follow me in here—"

Since Emily's body shifted slightly by trying to stop before she bumped into Max completely, and as fate would have it, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

"Maxy, I need you to move over, so I can get to the other side of the room…" Emily grunted while using her leg to try and scoot Max to the side so she could pass.

Emily barely shimmied her way past Max as she moved to the corner of the room where she generally discarded clothes or materials that her clients leave behind. She looked down and it seemed to be in the middle of the pile as something shimmered from the light. Carefully, Emily moved the clothes that were on top of it and realized that she was looking down at a dress that would most certainly work for the night's activities that she had planned.

* * *

Matt was casually getting ready as he just put on black pants and shoes, along with a white button down shirt. He started to wrap a tie around his neck, but decided to hold off until it was time to leave so he wouldn't have the restricting fabric on for longer than he needed. He knew that the men that were going to this club, most likely were coming after work. Therefore, he was more likely to blend in and not cause such an uproar if he just wore a standard business tie instead of a bowtie.

Matt wrapped the material around his next as he strolled to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He nimbly reached into the cabinet and pulled out a glass. He held the glass as he turned on the faucet and filled it up with water. He shut it off when the glass was just about full and brought it to his lips as he took a gulp of water.

However, ever since he draped his tie around his shoulders to tie later, he had felt a presence in his apartment. It didn't feel hostile, but he could feel the anger radiate through the air. It was more like this person had a sense of urgency and worry that rolled off their body more than anything.

"What brings you here?"

There was a pause and a figure stepped out from the shadows of the apartment and into the faint light that was let in by the stain glass windows.

"Nice digs you have here, _red._ "

"Thank you, Frank."

The two of the stood there on opposite sides of the room daring the other one to start talking first. Matt just stood there in a casual stance knowing that Frank wasn't going to try and start anything here, so he just took another sip of his water. Sucking up his pride, Frank decided to just be quick and efficient and get to his point.

"Tonight, make sure you keep the Doc safe."

"It wasn't my intention to let her get hurt."

"…"

The two of them didn't move and the tension between them could be cut by a knife.

"I mean it red. I'll come after you if she gets hurt."

"If you're so worried about her then why don't you just come inside with us…" Matt responded without thinking.

"Well, since I don't want to get that girl killed I can't go in since they probably all know my face."

Matt closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose making his nostrils flare slightly. He forgot about Frank and how much the media showed his face around. He was still a wanted man even though he was presumed to be dead.

"I forgot about all of that, and I'm assuming Emily did as well…"

"That's why I'm saying that you need to protect her in case something goes down…"

"Nothing is going to happen. We are just there to scope out their business and see if we can find out any information about what might go down between them and the Russians…"

"Yeah, well, shit seems to follow you around red and I don't want to get an innocent girl hurt or killed because you were too busy trying to fuck around and try to be a savior that this city doesn't need. Not to mention that you seem to be getting really fucking sloppy these past few weeks…"

Matt placed his water down on the table that he was standing next to and drifted closer to where Frank was standing. He thought it was just a fluke but he started to hear Frank's heart beat faster. The last time he heard this was when… Matt let out a silent gasp as if a light bulb just went off in his head.

"You're worried about Emily aren't you… Like genuinely worried?" Matt abruptly stated.

"Yeah, I'm worried that you might put her into danger that she shouldn't have gotten into in the first place if you would do your job and protect people like you claim to do," Frank licked his lips and watched Matt with a trained eye not knowing where he was going with this.

Matt sighed as he listened to Frank's heart beat rampantly in his chest. The last time this happened was when he noticed that Frank and Emily were standing side by side in her apartment—right before he cleared his throat and make Emily feel awkward enough to move away from Frank.

"I think it is a little more than that Frank, whether you care to admit it or not."

Frank just stood there as his semi-passive frown turned instantly into a hard look.

"I don't know what you're talking about red. Just don't fuck this up, okay? Anyway, I'm going to go scope out the place and I'll see you and the Doc when you get there."

Frank took in a deep breath trying to let his anger fade from the irrelevant and naïve things that Matt was spouting. Frank moved along the hard wood floor, surprisingly quiet given his size, and was about to disappear into the night just as Matt spoke up again.

"You have nothing to worry about from me Frank. Just so you know, Emily and I are just friends and I don't plan on letting her get hurt tonight or anytime in the near future."

Frank never turned around to acknowledge Matt's words and just continued on with his plan to leave the apartment, along with pushing any thoughts or emotions down for the time being. However, it didn't go unnoticed by Matt that Frank's heart seemed to let out a sigh of relief in that one quick instant. However, whether that sigh was about Matt always looking out for Emily so she wouldn't get hurt or that the two would always just be friends and never anything more, he would never really know.


	16. Chapter 15

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 15**

 ***gasp* I'm so sorry that I am posting this late! I lost track of time and I decided to do a major edit on this chapter (it needed it...trust me) and well, here it is. Even through the wait, I think that it is worth it. You will see what I mean... and yes, I know, I am mean :P But you're welcome.**

* * *

Emily had just finished touching up her makeup as she heard the soft landing of feet in her living room. She knew that it was probably either Matt or Frank who had stepped foot in her apartment, so she just voiced something quickly to make sure that whoever was there knew she was almost ready.

"I'll be out in a minute; I just have to grab my bag," Emily stated while looking over her appearance one more time.

Looking in mirror, she admired her work. Deciding an intense smoky eye to complement her features was a good choice on her part. Her makeup gave the impression of elegance, but was flirty enough to play the role of an escort. In her opinion, she makeup and dress made it look like she could pull off this part—whether that was a good thing or not.

"No worries. Frank is scoping out the place right now and I'm here to pick you up," Matt called back from the living room.

Emily frowned at the prospect of Frank not being the one who was coming to pick her up she was hoping that he would be the one who would do so, but she guessed that she may have angered him too much with her brashness. She did find it a little peculiar, however, that he was trying to scope out the club as the three of them had already formed a plan. Even if he was mad at her, she knew that he wouldn't try and do anything rash, it just wasn't like him. Sighing, Emily just hoped that whatever he was doing, he wasn't getting caught up in too much trouble or that someone was trying to harm him in any way. She wouldn't know what she would do if Frank Castle ceased to be in her life.

Pushing aside her thoughts, Emily walked out into her bedroom from the bathroom and grabbed a pair of heels that matched the formal dress she was wearing. Picking them up, she meandered over to her dresser to grab the clutch that was on top of it. She quickly picked it up and sat down on her bed. She started to work the straps of the heels around her ankles and once she was finally able to get the clasp on both heals she walked out into the living room where Matt was.

"Well, don't you look nice. I haven't seen you in a suit and tie in a long time Matthew" Emily casually mocked at him giving him a toothy smile.

Matt let an endearing smile tug at the corner of his lips before he retorted, turning to the sound of Emily's voice.

"Well, _Emily_ , I can't let you be the only good looking person at this party, now can I?"

Emily forcefully blew air through her nose as she rolled her eyes at the man in front of her.

"Thanks for the half-hearted compliment, but I'll tell you now that I don't look _that_ good. Plus, it isn't like you could even tell, since you know, you're blind."

Emily turned on her heel before Matt could reply to the comment she made. He couldn't see the color that she was wearing or the finer details, but she knew that Emily was definitely going to be turning heads tonight.

"Well are you coming or not? I thought we had a city to save?"

With that, Matt extended his walking stick and tapped it on the ground as he caught up to Emily. He casually placed her hand on the crook of his arm making it seem like he was the one who was escorting her for the night for the benefit of any prying eyes and with that, they left the confines of the apartment and hailed a cab to give them a ride to their destination.

* * *

Emily and Matt exited the cab that they took to the red light district. They got out of the car a few blocks away from the club itself, just to make sure that they had time to run through the plan once more. At this point, Emily was secretly hoping that Frank would come and join up with them. She was feeling slightly guilty by now about how she reacted earlier and now, she just wanted to see Frank and make sure he was okay.

One Matt gathered his bearings again, he placed Emily's hand back in the crook of his arm and started to lead her down the street until they abruptly turned left into the dark alley before them. They walked about halfway down it and Matt dropped his arm forcing Emily to do the same. They waited for about fifteen minutes and Emily was growing a little weary. Where was Frank and why was it taking him so long to meet up with them?

"Uhhh… I hate to break it to you but I think this is the wrong way Matt," Emily stated simply after a little over fifteen minutes had past.

"I know but before we go in I wanted to run through the plan one more time with Frank. Just to make sure that if anything does go south, that he doesn't have the right to kill anyone…"

It was as if Matt had said the magic words. Frank approached them from the shadows of the alley, and walked closer to the pair. You could faintly make out his features through the flickering lights that shown down the path from the street.

Frank finally came into talking distance wof the pair and Emily's heart yearned for him to come closer. She didn't realize it but seeing him once again made her guilt grow exponentially. Emily stood close enough to Frank that she noticed that he was still in his usual battle armor. Giving him a quizzical glace, due to the fact that he was supposed to be in formal wear, she heard Matt speak up from behind her.

"He thought it would be best to not go in with us because someone may recognize him. Especially since the Russian's are trying to find out information about him, it may not be the best idea…"

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. Being lost in the events of trying to help Matt and Frank she never thought of the fact that Frank probably wouldn't be going in with them unless it was for a raid of the club. She started to deflate with the idea that Frank would not be joining them and even though she didn't care to admit it, a part of her started to worry about her own well-being inside of the club. A feeling of uneasiness about the whole situation washed over her, almost instantly, given that Frank wasn't going to be in there with them. Almost as if Frank read her mind, he closed the slight gap between them and stood next to her. He tipped his head towards her and slightly whispered.

"Don't worry Doc, I'm not lettin' anythin' happen to you. If there is a problem I will get you out in time. You have my word…"

Emily simply nodded her head and wouldn't meet Frank's eyes. She could feel her hair start to fall from its place where she had pin it up. She zoned out of the new conversation that Matt and Frank were now having and she momentarily used her hand to secure the bobby pin back in its place. After this pause, Emily started to listen to the conversation between the two men as they started to rehearse their plan—to gather as much intel as they possibly could.

The three of them stood there in the dark alley double checking their pre-made plans. However, it didn't go unnoticed by Emily that Matt had telling Frank that he couldn't go in there with guns blazing even if things took a turn for a worst. Matt also stated that he didn't want to have any dead bodies littering the night. Matt sighed at Frank's nonchalant reply, as per usual. The three of them were about to go their separate ways, but a loud bang in the distance, making Emily jump, caught their attention.

"Everyone stay low and keep quiet. I think we have company. I'm going to go check it out and I will be right back," Matt hastily said as he moved back towards the street that was illuminated by lights.

This action left Emily alone with Frank's company. Emily felt Frank move subconsciously closer to her and stiffen, as if he was about to through himself in front of her into the line of fire. With the thought of Frank reaching out and protecting her, it brought blood rushing to her face and she hoped that the darkness would conceal her blush—which it did for the most part. But, with their time alone, she knew that she had other things that she needed to say to the man beside her.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier… Again, I know you were just trying to help and keep me safe. I know that and still, I fought you on it. Not only that but I didn't even think of the fact that you couldn't come in with us… I'm sorry Frank… I hope you are not too upset with me… Please don't hate me…"

Frank turned to look at the short woman beside him. Her soft wavy tendrils framed her face as she never seemed to notice that they had once again fallen and were blocking a small section of her face. When he first saw her in the alley way, he was breathless. Even now he seemed to still be breathless. It was even worse standing next to her, and being in such close proximity, made him be surrounded by the intoxicating smell of lavender. It was like a switch just went off and all he could see was her, he wasn't even bothered by the fact that there may be danger around the corner at any moment. He swallowed sharply took another glace at her; everything about her seemed so regal and effortless—like there was no way someone like her was walking the earth at the same time that he was. She had a sort of beauty about her that was only ever pictured in fairy-tales.

She never saw him do it but he had eyed her deep plum colored dress tracing the slit on the side of the dress that rose to her upper thigh. His imagination got the better of him as he imagined tracing his hands up the length of her thigh and feeling her soft honey-dew skin against his own. Her make-up also enhanced her natural beauty by giving her an edgier look that he decided he liked seeing on her. Without knowing it, Frank reached out and tucked the piece of hair that had fallen, back behind her ear as he gently cupped her face with his hand. He looked into her eyes and was captured by their intense blue shade. It was just like when he woke up from that fateful encounter between the two of them—he was entranced by them both then and now.

"Doc, there is nothing in this world that would ever make me hate you…"

Emily looked up at the man with wide eyes. She had been babbling away and it just now occurred to her that Frank had probably tuned her out until now. That, or he was trying to get back at her by making her feel a little awkward. Either way, her face felt hot and she knew that she was blushing heavily. Not to mention, that Frank still had not removed his hand from the side of her face and was he was actually rubbing his thumb back and forth on her cheek as if to comfort her.

"Frank… I uhh…" Emily stuttered and swallowed deeply.

She wasn't expecting this to transpire. She didn't know what to say to him. Now she was worried that she worried him with her babbling and tried to turn away from the man. Frank let his hand drop as he noticed that Emily wanted to escape from his touch. He didn't know what he was thinking. He couldn't get intimate with this girl. If he did then he would surly get this girl killed—and he would be the one to blame.

However, just as Emily started to slip away, the potent smell of lavender once again hit his nostrils. That smell had started to become a drug to him, and all he wanted to do was envelop himself in the scent. He quickly stopped Emily from moving any farther away and closed the gap between them once again. He carefully looked into her questioning eyes and placed his hand back on her cheek—where it once was.

He carefully tilted her head back as he watched her eyes widen. Emily was nervous and she didn't know why Frank was acting the way that he was. However, she didn't mind it. If this was where their relationship was headed—she would have no problems with it. As Frank brought his face closer to her own, Emily's eyes fluttered close.

She could feel his hot breath on her face and was actually starting to wonder what this kiss would feel like. Would it match Frank's exterior or would it be soft and delicate as if he was afraid he may break her?

"Well I hope I'm not interrupting anything here…" Matt coughed trying to clear his throat.

Emily's eyes slammed open as she almost jumped out of her skin when Matt spoke. The two of them quickly parted as Frank could see the red tinge heating up Emily's face. He started to smile to himself but caught it in time. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts; he couldn't believe that he was about to kiss that girl. He had sworn off any relationships a while ago, after his family died and he had no plans in creating any new relationships. He didn't want to lead the doctor on… but even now it felt like his whole body was screaming at him to hold her close again.

"Well, I just wanted to inform you that the sound was nothing really to note. It didn't have anything to do where we are at the moment and the police seem to be dealing with it. Anyway, I take it that Emily's friend is waiting, so we should get going…"

Matt stepped towards Emily and placed her hand on his arm once again and started to pull her away. She could feel a little bit of resistance on her part, but she finally let her lead her away from the man who was just about to kiss her.

Frank watched as Emily and red walked down the length of the alley way and towards the club. Frank watched her leave in the arms of another man, as he internally wished that it was he who was leading her away. He knew that he needed to end this before it went any further, but right as he was about to turn away and go back to his hiding spot, he noticed Emily turned back and met his eyes her intoxicating ones and he knew right then that he was going to need a miracle to keep himself away from her.

He knew that the men in the club would be falling for her left and right and this made him uneasy. He knew that she was about to go into the lion's den and that the men that would be inside had every ability to hurt her if they wanted. Frank clenched his fist and he knew thatthat he needed to keep a close eye on everything in and outside of the club because he couldn't bear the thought of another man touching Emily in a disgusting manner.

Frank started to return to the darkness of the alley as he found the ladder attached to the side of the building. He started to climbed up the ladder to his vantage point over the club and while he was climbing, a quick fleeting thought past through his head. Frank thought that if there was a god, he had sent Emily to be his guardian angel to save him from this hell.


	17. Chapter 16

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Geez... Like so much happens in this chapter... But you guys should be excited due to that fact. Also, this chapter is super long, like over 6000 words long... so that is also another plus... Anyway I hope you all enjoy this... I fangirled writing this chapter if that is any consolation :)**

* * *

 **Lucy: I'm glad that you liked it so much! And don't worry... We are almost getting there... You'll get more than cuddling...**

 **Kati** **e** **R.:** **OMG yesssss, that song would have been perfect! But I have to say that your comment made me laugh so hard, I loved it!**

 **Charlie: I can truly relate to that. I am glad I gave you some solace and happiness in the world after what happened last week... I'm still crying over it and I can't wait to see how the group moves on in the next episode of TWD. But hehehe... see now it is just going to just that much better when they do actually kiss!**

 **HopeKibou: I'm glad that you like their relationship and that you like the story as well :) Your compliments warm my heart and I am just so happy that you think so highly of my fanfic! Thank you! I hope you like this next chapter!**

 **Random:** **Hehe I am glad that you enjoyed them almost kissing as much as everyone else... I hate Matt too right now, like geez, only a few more seconds and they would have kissed! But yeah my autocorrect was shit... it always is lol. Anyway, I think you will like this next chapter because... well you'll see..**

* * *

Emily couldn't get what just happened out of her head. Frank Castle almost kissed her—she couldn't believe that he had almost kissed her. It was insane, majority of the time he acted like he didn't want to get close to her and had specifically told her that he wasn't one for relationships. So why did he just try to kiss her? I mean Emily was by no means complaining it was just something she never expected from the man in black. Maybe it was something like a good luck kiss that he was giving her or something that friends do. Like in European countries where they kiss each cheek before greeting each other. Shaking her head Emily thought that tt had to be something like that and nothing more. Again, tt wasn't that Emily was opposed to having a relationship with Frank, it was all just so sudden and out of place that she didn't know how to react to the almost kiss they shared.

She felt stupid falling for the moment the two just shared; Matt was out checking for danger and the two should have been doing something different rather than almost swapping spit. However, in the split moment where her eyes fluttered shut, and she could feel Frank's warm breath on her face, she was fully prepared to let Frank kiss her. As crazy as it sounds, she really wanted him to go through with it. Whatever the reason, Emily now had a strange wondering thought as to what Frank's lips would actually feel like on her own…

"Emily! Long time no see!" A voice shouted taking Emily out of her thoughts.

Emily twisted her head towards the voice just as she was enveloped in a hug by a big half-Italian, half-Russian man. She could smell the cheap and tacky cologne that was radiated off of the tacky suit that Sal had on.

"Uhhh, Hey Sal…" Emily huffed into Sal's chest.

The hug was awkward; not only due to the fact that she hadn't seen Sal in a year, but that her arm was still slightly intertwined with Matt's. Sal detached his arms that were wrapped around Emily's back, and pushed her out slightly so he could grasp her shoulders. With this action, Emily took her arm out of the crook of Matt's so she could move easier.

"It looks like you haven't changed, still the same hair style and everything" Sal halfheartedly laughed.

Emily dryly laughed with the man in front of her. She didn't know why, but meeting Sal like this, he seemed to have changed. She couldn't quietly place her finger on it, but it made her hair stand up on her arms and the back of her neck as she was close to him. It was like her body was telling her to stay away from the man in front of her.

"Well, I should say that you haven't changed much either, other than you are a new manager, right?"

"I see that you caught that on the phone, but yeah! I am the new manager of the club that just opened up downtown. If you ever feel like coming over, just mention my name and I'll get you in, past the bouncers. Anyway, enough about me, who did you bring with you here?" Sal simply stated letting Emily go and shifting his gaze towards Matt.

Emily turned her head slightly and looked hesitantly at Matt. They never discussed it but she didn't know if she should use his real name or not. It was like Matt had heard her inner thoughts as he started answering for her.

"Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you, You're Salvador correct" Matt said through a fake and forced smile, extending his hand out towards the bigger man.

If Sal noticed the fakeness of the smile, he didn't let on and instead took Matt's extended hand. Emily couldn't physically see it but she could feel that the two were mentally sizing the other up.

"Only my mother calls me Salvador, call me Sal. Anyway, I think we should probably go in. I don't want to wait for the line to get too long and make a bad impression on all the actual paying customers…" Sal presented to the group with a fake smile of his own.

With that, Emily found herself threading her arm through Matt's once again. As they approached the entrance, the full weight of the situation finally hit Emily. She sucked in a deep breath as a wave of nervousness washed over her. Emily watched as Sal spoke in sharp whispers to the bouncer at the front door and the man just nodded his head and undid the rope that was blocking the front entrance. With that, Sal motioned for Matt and Emily to follow him through the door and into the club and trying to look the part, Emily took in a deep breath and threw back her shoulders bracing for what she was about to go do.

* * *

"Okay guys, as nice as it is to talk to you, I need to go get some business done here. And before you judge me, some of these people are thinking of investing in my free clinic that I am starting up," Sal simply stated towards Matt and Emily.

The three of them were currently standing around a semi-crowded bar in the club taking in all of the _activities_ and discussions that where happening around the club.

"Anyway, I'll let you two go. Have fun and if you need me I should be around."

With that, Sal tipped his head back and swallowed the shot of vodka in one go. Emily watched as the clear liquid left the glass as he slammed it back down on the counter when he was finished. Sal gave both Emily and Matt a little wave as he went to go find the people he was looking for.

Emily turned to Matt expecting him to be the one who was eager to get rid of Sal and start questioning people, but when she looked over at him, she saw worry and concern flicker across his face.

"Hey what's wrong?" Emily questioned carefully.

"Its—Just be careful tonight okay?"

Emily just curiously looked at Matt not getting at what he was trying to tell her.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you know this…" Matt came closer so it looked like he was whispering something seductively into her ear, "but I think you are playing your role really well—you look really nice."

"Well… thank you I guess…but I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not since you can't actually see what I am wearing…" Emily shrugged not getting what Matt was implying.

"Emily…"

Emily looked from her drink to Matt's shaded glasses.

"Yes?"

"If anyone offers you to drink something or come with them to somewhere, don't drink the substance or go anywhere alone with someone. If you have problems, come find me. I don't know how well my senses are going to be able to work since the music is so loud here. Not to mention the copious amount of people as well may throw off my senses. Just… not only for mine and your sake… but please be safe for Frank's sake as well. If anything happened, I'm sure he would take it out on me after he brought a living hell down on anyone who would dare hurt you…" Matt trailed off almost as if he didn't want to complete the thought that was brought to his lips.

"Don't worry Matt, I will be okay. I have heard this speech before, I did go to college. I mean, how bad can finding out some simple information be?"

* * *

It had just been over forty-five minutes and Emily wasn't finding out any useful information. She checked in with Matt a few times and he seemed preoccupied with either a lady or casually talking with some of the other men in there. If Emily didn't know Matt like she did, then she would say that he really did fit into the scene around her.

A few men had actually approached Emily, but they seemed to get bored once she would remove a hand they placed on her from a precarious spot—like the open slit exposing her thigh, or a hand that seemed to find itself just a tad bit lower than her lower back. The men that did approach her and the ones that she approached were really only there for one thing, and evidently didn't have the information she needed. Walking the floor once more and without any avail, she sat down at the bar and ordered a girly-type drink. The bar tender gave her a suspicious look, as to indicate that he had never seen her around before and if she wanted to stay at the place, then she needed to go find some "work" and to find it quickly.

However, while sitting down, Emily had managed to catch the eye of one of the Russians in the bar as he came over and slid into the seat next to her. Emily could instantly smell the tacky cologne he had on from over a foot away. Turning her head and trying to shield her eyes from anyone noticing that they were watering up he smiled seductively at the man in front of her. The man took this as an invitation as to scoot closer to her and signal to the bartender to bring another round for not only her but himself as well.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Russian put back the rest of his drink and as far as she could tell he was drinking some pretty powerful stuff. When the bar tender showed back up with some more powerful liquor and Emily's girly drink, the bartender looked at her and the messaged conveyed there was "good luck." As soon as the bartender placed the drinks down, the cocky Russian instantly started spouting that the man needed to leave the two of them alone.

Emily felt the Russian slide a hand roughly pushing the hair from covering her shoulder so it fell behind her once again. In his drunken stooper he leaned in and awkwardly smelled her hair before letting his hand fall to the small of her back trying to give her his best version of a "I want you later and so I will have you" smile.

The hand was a little too low for her taste, even though the pair was sitting down on bar stools. But, she decided that this may be a key opportunity to get some information on the Russian's operation, even if he didn't know anything—it was still worth a shot.

"…I haven't seen you 'round here before," the man slurred in Emily's ear making her shudder and return her attention to him.

She could smell the alcohol come off of his tongue and she held back a gag due to the potency of it.

"I'm new." Emily simply stated, while placing her finger on her glass and traced the brim knowing full well that this action made men either want to take her home at the end of the night or give up.

The man watched her action as he seemed to be hanging onto her words, actually taking the bate that Emily laid out in front of her. She was never one to think of herself as a flirt, or someone that went out with a lot of people, or one that men desired; but she did do the whole trying to pick up a guy in a bar and other parties and social events when she was an undergrad in college. So, Emily decided to stick her finger into the liquid and swirl her finger around in it. She made eye contact with the Russian and took her finger out of the red-colored liquid and licked the drops of alcohol off of her own fingers. Hook, line, and sinker, she knew she had him as he licked her lips at her actions.

"Well, new girl, my friends and I were just celebrating my great accomplishments," The Russian proudly stated as he pointed to the group of men behind them.

"And what might that be, handsome?" Emily said, trying to sound seductive but wincing at the corny-ness of the line.

But to her surprise the guy didn't bat an eye.

"Heh, well I'll have you know that I have been making a bunch of shipments and have gained a lot of money by doing this. Not only money for myself, but I have actually made my boss pretty happy with my work ethic and the money that I end up making for him. But you wouldn't understand honey. It will just bore you." The Russian stated to trail a hand up Emily's exposed skin on her back making her shiver.

The Russian took this as a good sign, watching Emily shiver at his touch. However, it couldn't be farther from the truth, she knew all of the coded speech he used and she wanted to get up and run as far away as this man as possible. However, she let him continue to run his hand up and down her spin.

"Awww, please handsome, let me hear about the kind of things you ship…" Emily winked, taking her finger and started to trace the jaw line of the Russian man in front of her, causing him to smirk slightly and actually lean into her before he spoke once more.

"Heh, a girl with a brain. Anything for you doll. Well, I mostly manage in the _unique_ and _exotic_ , if you know what I mean…" The man licked his lips like he was not only about to eat up his own bull-shit but also like Emily was a nice desert that he wanted to indulge in for the evening.

"Well, that sounds very interesting, handsome, your boss must be real happy with you—like you said. I could never imagine doing what you do and be as successful as you are," Emily faked a smile and tried to act impressed.

Without asking a question, the Russian actually started to volunteer his own information.

"Who do you think organized this whole party for me!? The old boss man over there behind you is proud of me and wanted to reward me for my efforts—he even said so himself" the Russian laughed halfheartedly.

Emily cringed and started laughing along with the man.

"Hehe, well that is sure a funny way of referring to your boss… won't he get mad?" Emily giggled.

"Aww, doll let me tell you that the old man is cool. I think I saw you with his kid, Silvester, or something like that? I don't know why the old man decided to lay with an Italian women and create a half breed. But rumor has it, is that his kid got out and now helps run a new and legit club. But… after seeing what he brought with him today…I don't think he cut all of his ties…" The creepy man licked his lips and placed a hand on Emily's upper thigh.

She didn't even notice the advancement, it just seemed that her whole world was spinning. Sal's father was the Russian's leader… did Sal know? Was that how he was able to get her and Matt into the club, because of his father? But she trusted Sal, she knew that he would never be capable of hurting a fly… The two had a long past and that was the one thing she was still sure about. She knew that Sal could never hurt anyone unlike, apparently, his father. She didn't know why, but she risked turning around and she actually came to be in a dead stare off with public enemy number.

Emily needed to get out of here. Out of all the people who could have been the Russian's leader, why that man? He already hated her from some instances in her past and her being here was not a good idea. Especially, since he could make this a bad situation with only a snap of his bony finger. Emily quickly got up to go and try to find Matt, but a sharp tug on her wrist made her jerk backward and fall back into the seat. In the fear that had taken over, she had completely forgotten about the Russian man in front of her.

"I don't think I'm done with you yet, doll. Where do you think you're going?" The man hissed slightly.

The Russian kept his hold on Emily's wrist as he scooted as close to her as possible to plant a kiss on her neck. Emily felt his disgusting lips on her neck and gulped down air. Even though he was drunk, he was still strong and had full use of his muscles. As the Russian was slobbering on the skin of Emily's neck, he used his free hand, that wasn't griping her wrist, to try and snake a way up Emily's dress through the slit. This was when Emily's brain kicked in from the shock of this new information, so with all her might she pushed backward and released herself from the man's slimy grasp. But before she knew it, she pushed back with enough force to actually tilt her chair over and ended up falling to the floor.

The music was too loud for anyone to notice, and the only ones who did were right next to the bar. The audience decided to watch her fall and after that, she was back to being ignore. As soon as Emily was on the ground she felt a sharp pain radiate from her spin as she directly hit in on the hard wood. But as soon as she was on the ground she felt herself being lifted by her hair, something that caused her extreme pain, making her hiss and the pain brought tears to her eyes as the pins in her hair started to dig into her scalp along with the Russian man-handling her.

"What the hell! You bitch! I was just going to have fun with you and pay you… but now… you really have done it. I am not going to be looking like a fool because of a fuckin' slut…"

The man held Emily in his grasp as he dragged her towards one of the back exits of the club. Either no one saw him do this to her, or they really didn't care what he was going to go do to one of the escorts. Where was Matt when Emily needed him? She knew that this situation was getting worse and worse, almost to the point that she was worried that she had maybe taken this too far. Without seeing it, Emily missed that the Russian signaled two of his friends to join him and Emily.

Instantly, Emily felt the cold air hit her skin as they opened the door. Shoving her through the door and the alley beyond it, she was shoved out into the cold, rain-filled night. Emily lost her footing when the man pushed her out into the dark alley and ended up falling to her knees on the cold, hard asphalt. Feeling the skin become raw there, she knew that she needed to get up as soon as possible and try to fight off her attacked. However, when she tried to regain her footing, she was met with a large foot colliding into her side knocking her back down. She was cold, wet, and scared. She curled herself into a ball awaiting the next kick from the men wishing that this would all be over soon.

"Now, we just have to teach you a lesson, bitch… Come on boys!"

Having her adrenaline kick in, she knew that this was either a fight or flight situation—and her brain sought the latter. Since she could hear the men come closer to her as through the puddles on the ground, she took this as her chance to upright herself and figure out where to move to. Emily was able to crawl to the other side of the alley way as the men advanced towards her snickering that she had no way out.

Emily propped back up against the brick wall as she returned to her almost ball-like appearance she one took on the ground. But, just as the men were about to lay another hand on her, a loud gunshot sounded out and instantly there was a bullet embedded into the asphalt in front of Emily and the Russian that Emily was talking to in the bar. The bullet almost signified drawing a line between the Russians and Emily just daring them to touch her again.

"What the fu—"

The three men whipped around trying to find where the bullet had come from. Without seeing or hearing anything else, all three were too drunk to comprehend their situation as the Russian Emily was talking to yanked her hair back again.

It was almost like in slow motion, as Frank appeared; once again being Emily's dark knight. She heard the sounds of gunfire but she didn't realize what was going on until the Russian man in front of her loosened his grip of her hair and dropped to the ground. Frank wasted no time as it was over as fast as it began. Visibly shaking, Emily saw Frank waste no time and squatted down in front of her cupping her cheeks in his hands.

"This is what I was worried about… Are you okay Doc… God… I should have been in there… Shit… Doc… Please?" Frank almost pleaded with her.

Emily could see Frank's muscles tense and without thinking she placed her hand on his cheek mimicking his actions towards her. However, she had started to stroke the skin underneath the pad of her thumb. Frank's eyes went wide and before he could back away from the touch, Emily spoke.

"I am okay Frank… Thanks to you… I will be fine… I will okay?" Emily whispered letting some tears spill out from the corner of her eyes.

She hoped that Frank would catch her crying but to no avail he did. He knew she was crying given that the cold rain that was rushing down her face was replaced with warm streams. Frank moved his thumb to under her eyes and quickly wiped under them trying to provide as much comfort as he could.

Emily was just so tired in that moment, that she didn't care what she did next. She simply pressed her head to the crook of Frank's neck and wrapped her arms around him. She let his musky scent envelope her as she could feel his heat transfer over to warm her freezing body. Eventually, overcoming the shock of her actions, Frank decided to wrap his own arms around the shivering girl in front of him. From being out here he could feel how cold she was and he knew that she was a little traumatized after having to go through all of what she had just witnessed.

"I found out some information about the Russians and I… I was going to come get you. I couldn't find Matt and well, I had to get away from the guy who kicked me. Evidently, he didn't like it when I dismissed his advances…" Emily spoke out from burring her face in Frank's neck.

Frank pushed Emily out from the hug and held her out slightly so he could look her in the eye, "Did he hurt you? Did he touch you anywhere? Doc, tell me… Other than what just happened" Frank tensely whispered.

Emily dropped her hand from Frank's cheek down so it was resting on his chest.

"I am okay Frank, you stopped them… I am okay…" Emily stated again to make sure that Frank really understood that she was okay and out of danger now.

If Emily's hand wasn't resting on Frank's chest, she would have missed the sigh of relief that he finally let. Frank was about to say something, but he felt Emily start to shiver violently again since parting from the hug. He looked down at the trembling girl in front of him and he swore that he thought she was beautiful before, the rain just seemed to amplify everything. However, he pushed those thoughts out of his head as the girl in front of him was freezing from the mid-November freezing temperatures.

Frank moved back slightly and shrugged off his jacket, revealing a solid black t-shirt that was soaked in a matter of seconds. He quickly wrapped Emily up in his jacket as she gave him wide eyes.

"No, Frank I don't need your jacket. You'll get cold too and I—"

"Doc, just accept the damn jacket and stop fighting everything I do for you. I know you can do things yourself, but just please, for the love of god, let me do something for you…besides saving your ass all the time"

Emily had no energy to fight Frank—let alone anyone right now—and simply nodded her head as a blush crept across her face, but the rain conveniently hid it. Emily wrapped the black leather jacket around her body and casually tilted her head down so she could smell the intoxicating musk that floated off of the jacket, even in the rain. Frank watched over Emily as she tugged the jacket closer to her and he was about to reach out to her and pull her close to him when a voice boomed behind them.

"Hey! Is everyone okay out here?" yelled a voice.

Emily peaked behind Frank and saw Sal with a bewildered look on his face taking in the three dead bodies that surrounded Emily and Frank. Emily looked at Frank and fear washed over her as she hoped that Sal wouldn't recognize the man that stood in-between them. However, much to Emily's surprise, Frank stood up and extended a hand down towards Emily, who took it, no questions asked.

"I heard gunshots and I was hoping that it wasn't you or your friend. When I found your friend inside and not you, Emily, I got worried and… well here we are."

"I'm okay Sal. I had some help and I—"

Frank gave Emily a look that said something along the lines of 'don't reveal my real name,' but it was almost as if Sal already knew it was Frank just from his backside. Thankfully, Sal didn't say a word as he continued on.

"Anyway, Emily let's get you inside and I'll call a cab... Your _friend_ can come with us back into the club if you want…" Sal said with an edge to his voice.

"I will watch for the cab…" Frank responded gruffly without turning around.

Emily looked at Frank as he motioned to go back into the building with Sal. Emily hesitated, not wanting to leave Frank, but another shiver racked her bones and she knew that if she was out here any longer in the pouring rain, she was going to get sick.

* * *

"So, I guess we have some time to catch up then…" Emily simply stated as Sal handed her a hot cup of coffee.

She still had Frank's jacket wrapped around her and she had refused to take it off even though she had warmed up a considerable amount. Sal and her were now in the basement of the club, where the manager's office was. Sal just stated to manager that he needed to take care of me when they re-entered from the alley way. It was a little strange, but the manager just nodded his head and now they were both sitting on top of the desk.

"Heh, yeah I guess we do," Sal replied simply.

"So… umm… what do you want to talk about?"

"I have no clue…"

"Well, how is the club business treating you?"

"Good, and the mechanic jobs?"

"It's okay, I enjoy it enough…"

The two of them just sat there in awkward silence. The last ten minutes, Emily actually had watched Sal make coffee and now that that was done, the two of them were bad at making small talk—especially since they haven't spoken in so long.

"I try to work at the free clinic sometimes…"

Emily looked up from her coffee and smiled slightly.

"Is that why you wanted me to come in? So I could go back and start helping people again?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean there are some other people that work there, and I don't go as much as I should… I mean I rarely go. But I know that they are really having some issues…"

"And that is why you bargained for me to come in?"

"Sharp as ever Emily," Sal chuckled taking a sip of his coffee and the two of them sat in awkward silence again.

Emily didn't want to ask Sal anything about his dad, in case he really was working for him or if he still had connections with the Russians due to his father. She had to admit that she was nervous about being with him but she tried telling herself that she knew better than to think of Sal of anything as a good person. Plus, she didn't want impede and ask a question to make the gap bigger between Sal and his father because she already knew it was a big one. Sal was half Italian and half Russain, and that just didn't fly in most communities. So, Emily just sat quietly on the desk and swirled her coffee until she decided to speak up again.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Emily looked up and glanced at Sal.

"Haha, yeah, yeah I do," Sal softly laughed.

"Your brother was so mad when he found you in the emergency room. I swear that was the first and only time I have ever heard him raise his voice and get so angry that his face turned bright red."

"Yeah… but thanks to you I didn't have to be yelled at the whole time."

"Hey, I did you no favors by trying to butt in. I mean your brother decided that he was just going to ignore me anyway; plus, it really wasn't my right to step in. I just couldn't help it with the look that you gave me when your brother was ready to rip your head off. I mean I understood that you were trying to rebel, but really… did you have to go join an escort service just to spite your brother? You dropped your whole degree and training in the process… Not to mention that the three of us worked really well in the ER together… You were still doing your practicum but everyone knew the three of us as the three musketeers."

Sal sighed deeply before continuing on, "It wasn't just a case of rebellion; I guess I was just fed up with always living in my brother's shadow. I mean he was almost as good of a doctor as you were a surgeon… and that is saying something…"

Emily dropped her eyes back to the mug at the mention of her prowess with a scalpel, not to mention that she was afraid that this conversation was about to become a heavy one in regards to Sal's brother. So, the two of them let the conversation fall into a less-than-awkward silence.

Unknowest to the two of them, Frank had actually come down the stairs to the cracked door of the manager's office. However, when Sal and Emily started to kick up old memories about Sal's brother, it made him stop. Frank thought that since they were silent once again, that they had finished with their small talk—but right before he was about to push open the door, Sal spoke once more. Frank didn't know why he didn't interrupt them to explain that Emily's ride was here, but he was curious about what Sal was going to say next to Emily.

"You know he loved you right?"

Emily tore her eyes away from the coffee and focused them on Sal. She was about to question what he was saying, but Sal proceeded.

"My brother, he really did love you…"

Emily sat there and her grip on her mug increased ten-fold making her knuckles turn white. She started breathing deeply trying to steady her nerves.

"Why do you say that… I know he did I just—"

"He called me that night, Emily. I knew you two had been fighting, since let's face it, that would be the only time that SOB would talk to me after I did what I did. But I knew that through the thick of it, he really did love you and wanted to make things work out with you."

Emily dropped her gaze from Sal back to her mug. She could feel the onset of both tears and anxiety start to come to the surface as she gently closed her eyes.

"Yeah, but if we didn't have that stupid ass fight… he would have never been in those buildings a year ago when everything went up in flames…"

"You can't blame yourself—"

"The thing is Sal, is that I do. I do blame myself. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't wake up regretting that night. It really is my fault, that not only your brother died that night, but also my own brother as well…"

Emily was about to continue on, but noticed that Frank was standing at the doorway with the door now propped open. Her heart stopped when she saw Frank standing there and through everything that had happened that evening, she was now feeling like she was backed into a corner. Without thinking, she just got up and ran past him. She didn't know how much she heard, and if he did overhear any of it, she wasn't ready to explain to anyone—let alone him—why she was so fucking damaged.


	18. Chapter 17

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 17**

* * *

 **Hey guys! I know I am updating this Thursday night, but I am traveling over the weekend and I wanted to make sure you had this chapter. Another long chapter here, and trust me, this one is worth the read. I hope you enjoy the end of this chapter as much as I enjoyed finally writing it.**

* * *

Emily ran up the stairs and through the back hallway of the club. She could hear the bass pounding through the walls as it started to pulsate through the air. Her chest was rising and falling at a faster rate than normal. Maybe it was due to the running, but she knew better than that. Images were starting to flood her mind and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she broke down here.

Emily started to hyperventilate. Her mind was starting to cloud with images of bodies covered in dark blood, their voices screaming out to her, asking her why she couldn't save them. She threw herself at the wall as her shoulder collided with the hard material. She tried to steady herself as she the breaths racked her body making her shake. She placed a hand on her heart as if to make it slow down and she could feel cold sweat run down her spine. She wanted to sink down to the floor but she couldn't move; she was petrified.

She didn't move until a hand was firmly placed on her shoulder, making the memories stop flooding into her system. Emily found herself staring into the muddy brown eyes of Frank Castle.

"Shit…"

That was the only thing Frank said to her as he took her by the arm and lead her away to someplace less crowded. Emily let Frank wrap his other arm around her waist, supporting her as he took her out through the door. Emily wasn't thinking about where they were going, only about breathing.

"Doc, stay with me. I'll get you out of here… just… shit…"

She didn't know why but even in Frank's slightly frightened voice, it was calming to her. She just wanted to go home and wrap herself up in his deep husky voice. Whenever he was around, she felt safe—something she hadn't felt in a long long time.

Taking her first deep breath in the span of about ten minutes, she placed a hand on Frank's arm that was wrapped around her, supporting her.

"I… I think I'm okay…"

Frank turned his head to look into Emily's blue eyes. He knew that she was going to be physically okay, but something behind her eyes told him that she was still trying to run from something. However, even with Emily's words, he didn't release his grip from around her waist.

"…Thank you…" Emily let out breathlessly.

The two of them stayed like that a few moments more until Frank allowed himself to deem Emily okay to ride home. He asked her if she needed more time and Emily just shook her head no. She just needed to go home at this point.

Frank walked Emily to the cab that was parked a short distance away from the club. Emily knew it was stupid, but thinking about her feelings was better than remembering her past at the moment. She felt nervous about how much Frank had heard. She knew it was petty to think that, and she knew that Frank would never intentionally pry, but she didn't feel ready to tell him everything yet. She didn't even really know what she felt for the man who was her dark knight.

The two of them came up to the cab, and Frank once again looked into Emily's eyes as if he was trying to find something there.

"If I send you home, will you be okay for a few hours without me?"

Emily nodded her head at Frank's words.

"I need a verbal conformation from you Doc. Or else I'm not going to let you go home here…"

"I will… I am okay Frank. I just… I need to go home…"

Frank sighed slightly and opened the back door of the cab and watched Emily slide into the vehicle. He moved to the passenger side window and paid the cab driver to get her home safely. Emily looked out the window and rolled it down once she caught Frank staring at her through the glass.

She looked at Frank questionably and he just muttered that he needed to find Matt and to make sure that she texted him when she got to her apartment and if she didn't, he would come looking for her. Emily nodded and rolled up the window as the driver pulled away.

* * *

Once Emily got home, she immediately stripped off her dress and threw Frank's jacket on her bed not giving it a second thought. She also took off all the makeup she was wearing. She took her hair down from the up-due, and replaced it with a simple ponytail as well. Searching around her apartment, she found a dark purple t-shirt and slipped it on over her head. She also tugged on some dark blue skinny jeans to complete the ensemble. She felt like she needed to get everything off of her as soon as possible.

She made no attempt to say hi to Max or start any of the work that she promised herself she would start earlier in the day. She didn't know what she needed if she was being honest. She felt like she still hadn't calmed down from the memories, as they still started to come to her in waves. However, it was not as intense as before, but it was still bad enough for Emily to pace back and forth with her hand clutched to her heart.

She could feel the tears start to well up in her eyes, as she found herself crumple to the floor taking big gasps instead of breathing steadily. She never noticed when Max came over to her and tried to help her calm down. Looking around her room, it was as if she was saying a silent prayer for whatever bad deeds she had committed. Wave after wave hit her as Emily let out sobs echoing throughout her apartment. She felt constricted, like she could breath. She felt like she was guilty and that she shouldn't be alive when everyone who has ever gotten close to her have been killed because of her.

Emily ran a hand through her hair and tilted her head backwards as it hit the wall behind her with a loud thud. She needed these memories to subside. This was the exact reason why she didn't sleep. Emily closed her eyes and realized that that was a mistake. She could see the operating room once again, along with her own brother on the table. She looked down at her gloved hands and saw all the blood that was there.

Her mind zoomed in to her brother's life-less body as it magically started to move once again demanding why Emily couldn't save him. That's when she could hear herself screaming through the tears that poured out of the corners of her eyes. She cried and cried, until she had nothing left.

Eventually, Emily had let her body cope with her mind enough that the tears had stopped pouring out and were now just a sad, glistening stream down her face. She titled her head back down and started to pull her knees to her chest, and that was when she noticed the leather jacket she threw on the bed earlier.

Crawling over to her bed, Emily laid on top of it as she pulled the jacket on. She was once again enveloped with Frank's musk. She knew that it was no Frank Castle, but if she couldn't have his arms wrapped around her, his leather jacket would calm her down to the point where she wouldn't be having a panic attack anymore.

* * *

A few hours had passed and Emily woke up curled in a ball ontop of her bed. Her body was stiff as she undid the position and looked down, realizing that she still had Frank's jacket on. She sadly smiled at the scene. She was thankful that Frank had given her the jacket because it has helped her out in more ways than one.

Emily raised her arms and noticed that Max was asleep next to her, as if he was trying to look out for her. Moving her head side to side, stretching out her neck, Emily got that itching sensation where she needed to leave her apartment and go for a walk. With everything that happened at the club and the old memories that were brought back to the surface, she needed to take a walk and let her mind cool off. She took off Frank's leather jacket and placed it carefully at the foot of her bed, as if to remind her to give it back to him later.

She grabbed her keys off of her dresser and walked out of her bedroom, leaving Max passed out on her bed. Passing through her office, she ripped the black hoodie off of the chair and quickly shoved her arms through it. With both hands, she flipped the hood up so it was covering past her head, and if she looked down, it would cast a shadow that hid her face.

Emily continued to walk out of the front door and let it close behind her with a slam. She walked a little down the hallway until she turned back around and went up to her front door and locked it. She twisted the knob to make sure that it really was locked, and went back down the hallway and let her feet take her to where they willed.

* * *

Emily had ended up at a twenty-four-hour café. In the months before she had met Frank she came in quite frequently when she was hungry late at night and didn't feel like cooking anything. Usually, Mary, the waitress, and Pablo, the cook, where there when she came in—just like tonight. It made things easier since they both knew her order and she didn't have to talk to them—especially since she didn't trust her voice at the moment.

She always ordered hot chocolate, scrambled eggs, wheat toast, complete with a side of grits and sausage. And for desert she always had a slice of the pie of the day, since she knew that it was homemade. Today, it so happened that it was apple pie that was featured.

Emily was in her normal booth towards the back and she brought the mug of hot chocolate to her lips as she took a sip of the warming liquid. As she did so, she watched the rain patter against the window noting that it was probably the rain that forced her in here to begin with.

While she was walking around aimlessly, she felt the first few warning drops of rain and had quickly sought out shelter in the café. It was roughly three in the morning when she first entered the café and she approximated that it was about three-thirty now. Taking another sip of the contents of her mug, she realized that she didn't hear any word from either Matt or Frank. In all of the chaos before her meltdown, when she was changing her clothes, Emily did remember to text Frank that she was back in her apartment.

Granted, she didn't expect that she was going to be hearing anything back from the two of them any time soon. Emily traced the rim of the mug and thought that Frank and Matt were right. She probably shouldn't have gone with them. She probably just caused them more pain and worry and they couldn't get done what they had originally went to do.

She just hoped that she didn't cause too much of an uproar when those men had decided to take her out of the alley. She knew that she wasn't in the wrong, but she probably caused more trouble then she should have. It was just an easy thing, and she had screwed up so much. Emily placed her arms on the table and threaded her fingers through her hair, letting them rest on her forehead. She should have done more, if she wasn't such a baby she would have been able to take on those men and dealt with their advances better. Then, she wouldn't have talked to Sal and then she wouldn't have had the panic attack that she did.

While Emily was lost in her thoughts, she never noticed the bell chime to indicate that the front door was opening. She only looked up when the old seat cushion across from her in the booth she was sitting in squeaked from the weight being placed on it. Taking a relaxed breath, Emily dropped her hands and blinked a few times to make sure that the image was real. Frank Castle somehow was able to find her, and here he was, sitting approximately two feet away from her.

* * *

"Can I get you anything?" Mary strolled up to the both.

"Some coffee, please. Thank you ma'am" Frank said offering a slight smile to the women.

Mary just nodded her head and was about to leave but decided to ask her question.

"You Emily's friend? I haven't seen you around before…"

"Yes ma'am, something like that…"

Emily was still a little weirded out about how easily Frank was able to find her; even though she should know better. She took in Frank's shape and noticed that he had dawned on another leather jacket. It was as if he was recently at the apartment and grabbed a spare that he had in the closet, given that the leather of this coat looked older and more ragged. Taking a deeper look at the jacket, she could see that he was out looking for her for a little while since the leather was not able to slick away any more rain. It was water logged and it seemed to have hit its capacity to repel the water.

Mary, the waitress, stole a quick glance at Emily making her come out her trance. Emily nodded towards Mary to indicate that the man who sat down was okay, and that he was telling her the truth. Mary just responded with a quizzical look as if to say that Emily had something to tell the older woman later.

Emily watched as Mary strolled back towards the counter and grabbed a mug and a pot of coffee. She walked back over to the booth and placed the mug in front of Frank and filled it up with hot, brown liquid. She looked in-between Emily and Frank and without asking, she placed the coffee pot in-between them on the table.

Brushing her hands on her apron, Mary spoke to Emily, "Your food will be up shortly dear. If you need anything, just holler, Pablo and I will be in the back…"

"Thank you Mary, but I'll be okay," Emily responded noting Mary's phrasing indicating that if Emily had issues with the man that just sat down, then they would help her out. Even though Emily expressed that Frank wasn't a threat to them.

With this, Mary excused herself towards the kitchen to go gossip with Pablo about the new character that just came into the café. The pair of Frank and Emily sat in comfortable silence until Emily decided to ask the question that kept springing around in her mind.

"How and why did you come find me?"

Frank took his time in responding, by taking a long swig of coffee and placing the mug back down on the counter.

"I didn't see you at the apartment and so I thought you probably went out. I waited for a while and then the rain started and I didn't want you to be stranded somewhere… especially since I know that the past couple hours where not the best for you. So, I decided to go out looking for you and generally you pass by this way whenever you run so I figured I would check this way first. When I was walking down the street, I saw you in the window and decided to come in and join you."

"Yeah, well, if you were curious as to where I was, you could have called or messaged me…"

Frank fished around in his pocket and brought out his burner, tossing it on the table. It seemed that it was water logged and the screen had broken—presumably from defending her from the disgusting men at the club or some other fight that Frank had gotten into. He gave Emily a look and took a sip of his coffee.

He two of them sat there in silence and Emily took in Frank's features. She noticed that his knuckles were badly bruised as if he was wailing on someone. She also noticed that he had some bruises forming along his jawline and noticed one blossoming on the corner of his eye as well. She knew that he didn't have those marks on him when he showed up and shot the men in the alley; so she knew he probably had gotten into an altercation with their mutual friend. Emily twiddled her thumbs about to speak about the topic running through her head, but when she opened her mouth, Pablo came out with her food.

"Emilia, aqui es su comida…"

"Gracias, Pablo… ummm… tambien pedi un trozo… uhh… apple pie?" Emily smiled slightly knowing that her Spanish was not what it used to be.

Pablo smiled back and took a quick glance at Frank. Frank turned his head to meet Pablo's look and the two seemed to stare at one another for half-a-second until Pablo nodded his head. To Emily it seemed like they were trying to do one of those testosterone battles that men sometimes have with one another. If anyone asked, Emily would have had no clue who had won but she presumed it would be Frank given that Pablo doesn't really smile or talk to people much… except for her and apparently now Frank as Pablo gave Frank a toothy grin.

Pablo came back with the piece of pie and two forks—presumably one for Frank and one for her. Setting down the piece of pie, and the forks, Pablo put his hands on his hips and spoke to the pair with a deep Spanish accent.

"Ese, why are you letting your girl come here alone at night? She always mopes around here and hasn't been in for a while. Told Mary that she got herself someone and she didn't believe me… and now the two of you show up here"

Frank licked his lips as he made eye contact with Emily. She just held up her hands in response, basically saying that she didn't know what was going on, and to get himself out of this situation.

"Well, the Doc over here wouldn't wait for me and decided to leave before I could get back…"

Emily noted that Frank didn't correct Pablo when he asked if they were in a sort-of-relationship.

"Ahhh… Si, si. Chicas man. Mary be the same way when we get off work. Never wanting to wait for me to walk her home. But at least Mary is okay when it comes to birthdays… this one though…"

"Pablo!"

"Que? You're not goin' tell him so I'm just going to make sure ese isn't in the dog house… Her cumpleanos es December twelfth…"

This made Frank chuckle, "Thanks man."

"Pablo! Que demonios estas haciendo!"

Pablo looked in-between Emily and Frank and just shook his head smiling. He walked back to the kitchen laughing just waiting to tell Mary everything. Emily's face was bright red. She hated her birthday and everything about it. So, she just decided to not make eye contact with Frank and instead shove food into her face.

"You don't have to worry about it Doc, he didn't mean to embarrass you."

Emily stopped eating and instead sat back and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Well, I don't like people knowing stupid things like that…"

"How is your birthday stupid?"

"Because why should we celebrate getting older? Plus, it's just a stupid reason for people to act nice to you when they don't even care…"

Frank just looked at her seeing a new view of Emily. He decided to stop bringing it up, but secretly he kept that date in the back of his mind. He wasn't one to pry, even though he wanted to know. Just like he wanted to know what happened to trigger her to the point where she had a panic attack in club earlier.

"So, did everything go okay with red after I left?"

Emily interjected watching Frank tense up at the comment. Frank never responded to the question, so she could only presume that her earlier thoughts of them getting into a fight was correct. Emily resumed to eat her food, this time taking her time eating the last half of it unconsciously trying to spend more time with the man seated opposite of her. Frank and her just sat there in comfortable silence, with him drinking coffee and her eating and nursing some hot chocolate every so often.

"Why do you drink coffee when you hate it?"

Emily looked up from her food and caught Frank's eyes.

"I guess because it keeps me up and warm."

Frank nodded his head at her response.

"Why do you need to stay up, Doc? I mean you almost drink as much coffee as I do, so why?"

"Why not?"

Frank just gave Emily a look that was a no-nonsense kind of look. Emily put down her fork and sat back. She knew she was about to get defensive given the topic. She knew Frank wasn't trying to pry, but she knew how easily this conversation could shift into a territory where she wouldn't be able to control herself and her emotions.

"Why do you care, Frank?" Emily stated plainly.

"…Just looking out for you Doc."

Emily closed her eyes and looked down at her hot chocolate. She took a deep breath and her mouth started to speak before her brain could comprehend the words.

"Because… majority of the time I don't like to sleep and when I do…"

Frank watched Emily as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and fidgeted in the seat. He took a deep breath and for some reason he wanted to sooth her. Just hold her close and run a hand through that intoxicating smelling hair. Why was it she couldn't sleep? What happened to make her nightmares so bad that she had to be overly exhausted in order to sleep?

"I just… never mind. It doesn't matter, does it?"

Emily started in on her pie trying to ignore where the conversation was headed. While she was eating she realized that she should probably share her desert with the man in front of her, given that Pablo did go to the trouble to give them two forks for the pie. Emily shifted her dirty dishes to the side and placed the piece of apple pie in the middle of them. She looked up and saw Frank watching her every move as she extended the fork.

"Here…"

Frank took the fork from Emily and watch her take another bite of pie. She gave him a curious glance.

"Seriously, have some. I won't be able to finish it all by myself and I end up having to take it home… And I really don't want to take this home."

This made Frank move slowly towards the pie and took a forkful of it. He slipped the food into his mouth and swallowed it. In that time, Emily had helped herself to more of the desert and smiled at Frank when he made eye contact with her after swallowing a bite. Frank watched as Emily started to giggle covering her mouth with her hand.

"What?" Frank said dismissively.

"You have some whip cream on your face… here let me get it for you…" Emily giggled some more and wiped away the cream away from the corner of Frank's mouth.

Taken aback by the action, Frank's heart started to beat furiously in his chest. He took it that he made a weird face because Emily was now cracking up even more in front of him.

"Now that is a sight to see, the big bad punisher can look dorky too…"

Frank never minded that she called him his street name or the fact that she had called him dorky. He was only really focused on the happy, smiling, and laughing girl in front of him. He wished that he could always see her like that. He ingrained the image into his head. It was such a warm scene, and he wanted to preserve it even though he was supposed to be a bad guy. He would give anything to keep Emily like this.

He felt the cold exterior of his heart melt a little at the smile that Emily kept flashing at him through her giggling fit. That was actually the first time in a long time that Frank had actually returned a smile and he didn't mind sharing the moment with her. He didn't have many of these happy moments anymore and so he knew he would be treasuring this for a long time. Frank's smile made Emily blush as she knew that a smile from Frank Castle was an extremely rare occurrence. The warmth of the scene made Emile see the first glimpse into what Frank was before this whole mess.

* * *

Emily threw a twenty on the table to cover the fee of the meal along with a nice tip. Frank was going to pay, but Emily had simply waved him off as she stated to him that she was the one who had come in the first place and ate the most. Frank only had a coffee and a few bites of pie—she wasn't going to let him pay for her food. Scooting out from the booth, she got up and Frank matched her movements. She started to walk through the front door with Frank, but at the last moment Pablo peaked his head out of the kitchen window.

"Ese, keep a good look out for chica here… Also, I don't mean to threaten you here ese… but chica over there… you're lucky to have her. I have video tapes if anything does happen to her and if I found out it's your fault… I won't hesitate to turn over the tapes ese… and the policia will be more than feliz to be back to hunting you even though you were once thought to be dead…"

Emily was a little taken aback by Pablo's comments. She just figured that he didn't know who Frank was given their exchange earlier… but now she was a little worried for Frank. She didn't want Pablo to do anything rash… but it did warm her heart that he and Mary thought of her in a light that they were worried for her. Emily came out of her thoughts when she heard Frank stop behind her and speak to Pablo again.

"There won't be a problem, trust me. I know she is a great person… She really really is. I'll do anything to keep her out of harm's way… even if I have to die trying…" Frank muttered back in the general direction of Pablo, not making eye contact with Emily and actually brushing past her.

Emily was taken aback by the words that Frank had just spoke. He held her in such a high regard and she knew that he didn't think that highly of many people. Emily realized that she was letting all of the heat escape through the open door and she quickly waved goodbye to both Pablo and Mary and ventured outside to catch up to Frank.

The pair were some ways away from her apartment, so it was going to be a cold walk back—even though the rain had stopped for the moment. Emily had to jog to catch up to Frank and finally came to walk by his side. She pulled her hood up again to try and trap the heat escaping from her head, in attempts to keep warm. The two never said anything to each other while they were walking along side-by-side.

However, Emily started to notice that the gang members were apparently on a shift change as there were a lot more, sketchier looking men on the streets now. A few passed by both, Emily and Frank and gave her some looks as the rowdy men tried to ignore Frank's presence; however, the looks she received were looks that never meant anything good. Starting to become nervous, Emily didn't think and came to intertwine her fingers with Frank's. She also moved closer to him as they passed by some more dark-clothed figures. She knew that with Frank next to her, the corner boys were not going to start anything. However, she felt just that much safer holding Frank's hand.

Frank didn't know what to do and how to process this information. Looking around he realized that Emily must have been a little nervous about the lurking undesirables and he actually liked that she decided that he was her safe haven—the one that would protect her if shit went south. Even if it was only for this moment—or if she felt like that at all.

They were only a few blocks away from the apartment now and Emily realized how close she was to Frank—that and her hand was still intertwined with his. The people that were out and about had dissipated again and she figured that she should remove her hand, because Frank probably didn't want to be holding it anyway—he was just too kind to say anything.

So, Emily let her hand drop and before her hand came out of Frank's, his hand grasped her hand again and pulled her back towards his body where she once was. Frank slowed his pace and looked down at Emily noting how big her blue eyes were.

"Sorry… I—" Emily murmured.

"Don't be… I… I like it. You being close to me…"

Frank adverted his eyes and couldn't believe what he was saying to the girl. It was like his feelings had started to flood out and he didn't know how to stop them. Frank was about to drop their held hands and put distance between them, when Emily squeezed his hand slightly.

"I like being close to you too…"

Frank stopped moving once again and looked down at the woman beside him. The street lights casted a simple glow over her face making him feel like she was a gift from god and something this good shouldn't be in this hell hole—and associating with him.

"I'm sorry Frank. I am sorry for all the trouble I caused today at the club and I am sorry for you always having to save me and I am sorry—"

"Doc… shh its okay. Like you said, you're safe and it's over and done with…"

Frank didn't realize it but the hand that wasn't occupied holding Emily's was up against her cheek. He found himself rubbing his thumb against the soft skin. He started to lean down to her level but at the last moment decided to pull away.

To Emily's surprise, Frank once again didn't kiss her and instead, kept her hand intertwined with his own as they continued on. She was thankful that Frank forgave her and she knew that if he didn't interrupt her then she would have had another break down again. She didn't think of herself as a fragile person, but there was only so much someone can take before they need to release their pent up emotions.

Emily was dragged out of her thoughts as Frank started to slow up again. He came to a complete stop before an intersection in which they had to cross the street. The street light casted a soft glow over the pair as Emily almost missed Frank speaking to her.

"I'm not a good man, Doc…" Frank whispered to her.

Frank didn't really expect to hear anything back about his statement. He was truly a horrible person—one that shouldn't be associating with people like Emily. She was the light and he was the dark. She was the good and he was the evil. She was the sun and he was the rain. However, what shocked him the most was what she said and did next.

"Yes, yes you are a good man Frank. You just can't see it… but you are… I can see the good in you… It radiates off of you and I am lucky and thankful that you choose to let me see that side of you. You are a good man Frank—never forget that…"

And with that, without thinking, Emily raised up on the balls of her feet to reach Frank. She slowly looked into his eyes, just before she closed her own and leaned in. She placed her free hand on his chest and pulled on Frank's open leather jacket so he would move closer to her. Tilting her head back slightly he pressed her lips softly against his own. She could feel Frank stiffen and then relax.

She figured she went too far with her action, and should have let Frank make the first move, if he was going to make one, but then, she felt Frank snake a hand around her waist and he stopped when he reached her lower back. This brought her closer to him as she released her hand from Frank's and moved both of her hands up his torso; coming to intertwine them into his hair that was just starting to grow out.

Frank used his hand that was left by Emily's own, and placed it on the nape of her neck. Both of these actions performed by Frank and Emily deepened the kiss, making it become one of passion, with the two standing there kissing, even as the rain started to pour once again. Their respective lips had finally found the other's, as all the longing and passion was finally being released between the two. The two of them stood on the corner of the street with their lips entangled in the other's as the flickering lights cast a soft glow on their silhouettes.


	19. Chapter 18

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 18**

 **Ahhhhh! Sorry about updating this on Saturday, I fell asleep on Friday early and then I went to a hockey game and didn't get back until eary in the morning hours and I just wanted to go back asleep! Anyway, Not as fun-filled as last chapter, but I think this one starts to have Emily and Frank become closer to the idea of exposing their raw emotions to one another and how to deal with the thought of letting someone else in.**

* * *

 **Katie R.: I know! Just wait until she tells Frank her back story (Idk if that was a spoiler... but I thought it is pretty evident that she will tell him at some point :P), its dark and you will for sure be feeling for her. Also, so glad you liked that they finally kissed!**

 **Lucy: Oh I know! I know it is cliche... But kissing in the rain is just oh so romantic (at least in my opinion!)**

 **Serenity2303: I am glad you are happy; it makes me happy that I made you happy! And don't worry, there are more kisses to come *eyebrow wiggle***

* * *

It was about mid-afternoon and Emily opened her eyes that were still drowsy from sleep. She rubbed her eyes with her hand and let out a yawn. She rolled over to check the clock on her night stand and ran a hand through her hair noting that it was around one in the afternoon. Emily then felt a large hot mass prop itself up against her.

She looked down to see that Max hand crawled up from the foot of the bed to be closer to her now that she was awake. Emily once again, rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling and she let a smile form from the corners of her mouth. She laid her forearm across her face and started laughing to herself.

She had kissed Frank Castle. Not only that, but he kissed her back. She thought that she had overstepped her bounds but it turned out that maybe there was something that was blossoming between the pair. The two of them did evidently end the kiss shortly after Frank wrapped an arm around her. However, in that moment that the two of them were wrapped up in each other as the rain fell around them, she could feel Frank's guard slip completely.

She hoped that that meant good things and not the opposite. Emily hoped that by letting down his guard, Frank was starting to trust her—as more than just a friend. She wanted him to be able to come to her with anything—no matter how bad it was. She didn't want to over think anything, but if she was honest, she was happy with how things were turning out.

Emily moved her arm to rest on her forehead and she took her other hand and started to trace her lips from where Frank had kissed her. She had somewhat expected him to have rough and callous lips, given his line of work; but to her surprise they were probably softer than her own. Not only that, but Frank treated her with a sort of kindness and gentleness, as if she would break underneath the palm of his hand. She knew that if he wanted to, he could severely hurt her, but with this new development she felt that maybe… just maybe he was starting to feel the same way about her as she did him.

Sighing deeply and replying the imagine over again and again in her mind, Emily couldn't remember the last time she was this happy. Not to mention that this was the first time in a long time that she had actually got a good night's rest; meaning that she didn't have any nightmares that left her feeling like she was drowning. It was as if being close and intimate with Frank made her subconscious think that he was there protecting her in her dreams as well.

Emily shook her head and used her hands to softly slap her own cheeks to try and get some semblance of herself. She needed to get up and go to work, not be fantasizing like a sixteen-year-old girl who just got kissed for the first time. She had a lot of work to catch up on and she knew that she needed all of her brain power to be focused on fixing her clients objects—and not retracing her tender lips where Frank Castle kissed her.

* * *

Frank was sitting on top of St. Matthew's roof top. The sun was just above the horizon marking the beginning of the evening hours. He sat there watching over the city with his feet dangling off of the edge of the billboard sign. Frank placed the gun he was cleaning in his lap and took a bite of the apple that he took from Emily's place.

Reminding himself about Emily, he thought about the kiss that they shared. It took all of the power he possessed to not move too quickly and overwhelm her. Once she kissed him, all he could do was be absorbed by the intoxicating smell of lavender. It was all he thought about, all he could see, hear and smell, and all he really cared about in that moment. He knew that if he didn't restrain himself, he would have wanted a lot more than just the kiss that they shared on the road.

Frank knew it was a bad idea to get involved in a relationship with someone. He knew that he should have ended it after the previous night in the alley. Now, it is going to be even harder to let go… Because he was afraid that he would not only destroy Emily's heart, but his own as well. Even if he didn't care to admit it, he knew he felt something more for the girl than just friendship—especially since when he was kissing Emily, that was the first time since the night Maria died that he let go of his hard exterior, if only for a moment.

Frank ran a hand through his hair and deeply sighed. He couldn't be in a relationship with her… No matter what he or she may feel… It just wasn't possible. Emily deserved something so much better then what he could give. She deserved the world and he was a wanted dead man who kept dragging her into shit that she shouldn't be involved in. Not to mention that if he didn't get hurt that night, none of this would have happened and she would still be safe and not wrapped up in this Russian-Chinese gang shit.

Gazing off in the distance, he leaned his head back on the billboard and watched as the sun started to sink lower and lower. He was happy that she had kissed them and that he now knew that she had close to the same feelings as he did for her. He could tell that much from her soft and giddy expression after she kissed him.

After they did break off the kiss, Frank just simply held onto her hand and escorted her back to her apartment. Emily unlocked the door and Frank knew that he wouldn't be able to have any will power if he went inside with her. So, he simply said goodnight to the girl and went on his way. He did, however, go back in the later morning hours when she was sleeping, to check up on her and that was when he took the apple from the fruit basket on her kitchen counter.

He didn't know what to do about the situation on hand. He wanted to keep her close and by his side, as selfish as that was. But on the other hand, he was afraid that by being close to him that someone would use her as leverage and harm her—or even kill her. He knew that he wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to her, even now. He already lost one family, he couldn't lose the start of a new one.

But, as Frank tried debating through his moral code and thinking back to the tender kiss that he shared with Emily, a certain thought came back around. Did he really believe Emily to be his new family?

* * *

"Frank! We do not kill, anyone! I don't care how much you think that your way is right—"

"You know what red? I have had enough of this self-riotous bullshit of yours. Again, you hit them and they get back up and when I hit them they stay down!"

"You may believe that Frank, but if a man kills a murder, the amount of killers remains the same…"

"Yeah, well hate to break it to you red… But I don't stop at just one."

Frank and Matthew were at odds again, trying to find the location of Sal's father. He was a hard man to come by and not many people even knew who they were talking about. But at least they knew his name thanks to Emily. Frank had gotten the information from her when he dropped her off the night before, after they kissed. Matt and Frank would be even farther behind if she didn't find out that bit of information, even if Frank would never admit to it in order to keep Emily from trying to go with them to any of their future gatherings.

The two men had either disarmed or put down anyone who was in their way. Matthew took on the former approach while Frank decided to take the latter, given that he was still enraged by Matt. The two didn't realize they were going to the same place that night, until they evidently found themselves fighting one another. However, after they finished what the two of them were there for, with clearing an entire warehouse of wanted criminals out, they couldn't find any information on this old man. Frank rubbed a hand back and forth on his head and proceeded to leave the confines of the building.

He headed back out through one of the many garages that were attached to the back of the building. If he had to guess, some fancy shipping company once owned and either moved or went out of business; since now it seemed to be a breeding ground for the scum of the earth to collect at.

Frank trudged on, ignoring the fact that Matt was still following him. Frank walked out and kept up his brisk pace until he finally reached where he wanted to be. He was overlooking the shipping docks of Hell's Kitchen. Frank carefully walked up to the edge of the pier and stared down into the black liquid that sloshed against the man-made barricade.

"What the hell Frank! How could you do that…"

"I'm telling you red, shut the fuck up—"

"Or what?"

"Or I'll kick your ass like I did last night. How in the world could you have left Doc alone like that!? She was brutally attacked and here you were with your tongue half way down a prostitute's throat with your pants around your ankles!"

"I had a valid reason for that! I was talking to her and I found that she had some information that she wanted to tell me. However, her boss came around and she knew that if she wasn't acting like how she was supposed to then she was going to get reprimanded. I couldn't let that stand so I decided that the best course of action would be to play the damn part!"

"Yeah, and when was it stated that you would be trying to tongue-fuck a girl and not do your job. You had one job, in my eyes, and that was to protect Doc at all costs…"

"Well then, where were you in all of this. If you didn't go around killing a bunch of people and were a wanted dead man, you could have easily stopped anything from happening if you were in the building. However, due to your psychopathic rage a few months back, you can't be near the one thing you are so desperately trying to protect!"

Frank was only seeing red in this moment. He wanted to beat the living shit out of Matt. Not only due to what he was saying but because of the night before, were he didn't save Emily like he was supposed to. He could care less about himself, but he would be damned if anything was going to hurt Emily.

"You know Emily wouldn't want you to be killing—" Matt stated a little softer knowing that Frank was about to come at him again.

" _Red…"_ Frank roughly spoke, almost as if he was growling at the man in front of him.

Matt held up a hand indicating that, that wasn't where he was headed. This lead Frank stay were he was instead of running up and decking Matt like he wanted to. Frank took a couple of deep breaths and finally got a good look at the man in front of him. His lip was split in two places, while his jaw had an outline of a bruise that was almost black.

Not to mention that just under his mask, there was the faint out line of black once again—indicating trauma to the eye. Frank also noticed that Matt was bending over, favoring his right side, seeing that his left side of his rib-cage was littered with harsh and painful bruises. Frank smirked knowing that he was the one who gave Matt those injuries when he found him in the club with that women the night before. Frank held his gaze to Matt as Matt took the silence as the time to speak while proceeding with caution as he did so.

"I think she would care if you ended up killing someone. I know that Emily worries that someone will come and find you out of revenge and hand you your fate. I know she cares deeply for you Frank, whether she tells me or not. I know she has deep feelings for you… I mean she even used her own blood while operating on you…"

This caught Frank's attention as he gave red a curious look and Matt took this as a good sign as he noticed Frank relaxed more with the mention of Emily.

"Yeah, the night she operated on you, she didn't know what blood type you were and I wasn't compatible with you; so she rigged up a line from her arm into yours and then started to perform surgery on you."

Frank sighed deeply and closed his eyes. He had no idea that Emily would have done that for him—let alone the fact that she did it without even second guessing herself. She knew that he needed help and selflessly helped him even though she didn't know who he was—other than the how the media had portrayed him: a murderous, evil, hitman.

" _Red,_ I can't change. Once you pass the point that I have, there is no going back. Doc needs someone who can man up and be with her. Someone to protect her and keep her out of harm's way…"

"You can man up and be something for Emily…Frank"

"Well, that's thoughtful red but I'm not involved with the Doc. Not even that, I wouldn't even call us friends…" Frank rushed out, trying to get off of the topic at hand.

"I know you're lying Frank… I can… no never mind."

"What do you mean red?"

"I—"

"You what red…"

"I know that you like her. I can hear your heart beat and it speeds up with every mention of Emily. And I know that you have some feelings towards her that are more than friendship because I can hear it through the blood coursing through your veins…"

Frank was rocked with anger once again. How the hell could the guy in front of him know anything about the relationship he wanted with Emily? And if he knew, who else did? A wave of worry washed over Frank as he knew that he may be putting Emily in more danger than either the two of them realized.

"What the hell? I am getting real sick and tired of this shit with you red. I mean I should have just killed you when I had the chance. I already shot you once, so maybe the second one will make its point…You keep spouting off this shit and it is seriously gonna get you killed"

"As intimidating as you are trying to be, I know you wouldn't kill me."

"Yeah, and how the hell do you know if I'll pull the trigger again or not? This time I would make damn sure I wouldn't miss."

"I don't doubt that. But I know you won't shoot me because if you did, Emily would never forgive you for killing me. She could probably forgive you if you beat me to a bloody pulp, but there wouldn't be any way to come back from killing me."

"You hold her friendship of you quite high. But again, I do not like Doc… I can't."

Frank pressed his index finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose. He knew that he was telling Matt lies about his feelings towards Emily. But how could he deflect or announce his feelings if he didn't know what they actually were? He had no clue what he felt for Emily, and that was the utter truth. He loved to be in her company and the kiss that they shared brought him back to a much simpler and happier time—but on the other hand he knew that he had to push her away and be cold to her because he couldn't let anyone get wrapped up in his life and be killed because of him again…

"You may not love her, but you do like her Frank. Even I can tell that much…"

Matt was about to turn away and leave before Frank could lash out at him again. He didn't want to tell him that he knew that Frank felt something for the girl because it wasn't his place, but secretly he hoped that they could work it out. They both needed someone in their life to help them cope with their respective pasts…

"What happened to her?" Frank questioned softly.

Matt stopped in his tracks. This was not the response or question he was expecting so it caught him off guard. It was so out of place, that the softness of Franks voice made Matt turn back around and look at the man in all black.

"What and who do you mean?"

"I mean Doc. I overheard her talking to that Sal guy about some shit that went down… What actually happened to her?"

Matt sighed deeply and weighed his options. He could let Emily tell Frank herself, but he didn't know if that would ever happen. Or, he could tell Frank what he knew, even if it wasn't the whole story.

"You should really ask her…"

"Red, for once in your goddamn life, stop acting like a preacher boy…"

Why did Frank want this information out of him right now? He could easily ask Emily if they were close like the thought they were; but maybe Frank was worried that Emily was never going to tell him what happened to her.

"Red, please…"

As bizarre as the situation was, and how quickly the conversation shifted, Matt couldn't help but hear the strain and stress in Frank's voice.

"I did get some information out of her when she was drunk one night. She had actually found me in the costume that I wear in the daylight hours and we ended up drinking heavily there. Foggy and Karen had just left and I am pretty sure that she forgot that she even told me…"

"What could be so bad that she quit being a doctor?" Frank pressed.

Matt ran a hand through his hair knowing that he really shouldn't be the one to tell Frank.

Taking a deep breath, Matt continued, "Apparently, she caused not only her fiancé but her brother to die by her hand, Frank. I don't know the details, but I am pretty sure it is really messed up given how she can't operate on anyone without losing her mind."

* * *

A little more than a few beers in and a workload finally finished, Emily sat back in her chair. She looked at her workbench and marveled in the fact that she had actually got through all of the things she needed to do by tomorrow… well today she presumed since it was pitch black outside. After she got down to work, she had actually managed to push away all thoughts out of her head, until approximately in the middle of the "day" where she needed to take a break and eat something.

Emily leaned back in her chair and brought a mug to her lips. She downed the last sip of cold coffee and placed the mug back on the desk. When she scooted closer to preform that action, she felt one of the wheels on the bottom of the chair become loose. She swiftly stood up and swayed a little back and forth realizing that she had way too much to drink. She didn't notice how much she had actually consumed until she stood up. She silently cursed herself knowing that she was probably going to have a hangover in the morning.

However, soon, the spinning subsided slightly and Emily reached down to look at the chair. For some reason, the roller had become loose—probably since Emily was rolling back and forth all day on it collecting supplies she needed around the room. So, she headed to her bedroom to grab a flathead screwdriver that she had placed in there earlier. About a week ago, she had to fix her sink and had left the screwdriver on her dresser. Majority of the things that she fixed called for a phillips so she wasn't too worried in placing her flathead in the place where she kept all her other tools.

When she made it into her room, trying to make sure she didn't bump into anything as the world was swaying moderately. Emily searched the top of her dresser and found that the tool wasn't on it. Emily made a weird face knowing that she could have sworn that she placed it on top of her dresser. So, her next thought was that she needed to go and open up her drawers since it may have fallen into one of them.

While she was opening and closing drawers, she never noticed a small black box fall out of the dresser and land by her feet. She did however, finally find what she was looking for as the screwdriver did end up rolling into the drawer that was always perched open. She shut the drawer so it went back to its cracked open appearance and was about to leave her bedroom to go fix her chair, but the black box at her feet caught her eye.

Instantly, Emily's heart stopped. Without a thought going through her mind, she collapsed onto her knees. She carefully dropped the screwdriver in exchange for the black box. She heard Max jump off the bed and rub his head against her trying to get her attention. Emily didn't pay any attention to Max as she stopped breathing. Her breath caught in her throat and tears threatened to spill out of the corner of her eyes.

Without thinking, she was up almost instantly running to the window. She clutched the black box so hard in her hand that her knuckles turned white. She fumbled with the latch, but eventually swung with window open exposing her to the cold winter's air. She wound her arm up and was about to throw the black box out of the window with all her might, but her rapid heartbeat kicked in and it was like she was frozen in place.

She gasped, letting the cold air sting her lungs as tears started falling down her cheeks. She fingered the felt-like material of the box and brought it in front of her to look at. After what felt like a century, Emily finally had the nerve to open it up and look at the contents inside. Carefully, she pulled back the lid to reveal a beautiful diamond perched on top of a silver band. It was an engagement ring that had her initials embedded into the side of it alongside another set of initials that didn't belong to her.

She didn't know if it was again because of the alcohol that she was feeling this way or the fact that she may still harbor sadness at the ring in front of her. Emily carefully wiped her eyes as the tears seemed to keep screaming down her face clouding her eyes the longer she looked at the ring. Her futile attempt to wipe away the tears, she just decided to look up towards the sky in hopes that that may slow down the tears. But unknown to her, her emotions got the better part of her as she let nostalgia take over as she startled to babble.

"Joshua… I hope that you are doing well… well I mean uhh better… I just… I don't know…"

Emily took a shaky breath and let her fingers skim the top of the ring. Emily swallowed hard and continued on talking to no one in particular.

"I am still… I am still so so sorry about what happened and I… I don't go a day without thinking about you… I am so sorry… It was all my fault and I am still so guilty and I take full responsibility for all of my actions…"

Emily wiped the back of her hand against her cheeks as she sniffled.

"I don't… don't…" She started to hiccup.

Emily dropped her head as she forcefully gripped the box in her hand, letting her tears fall in drops off her nose and onto the center diamond.

"What should I do? Everything is just so messed up now, and I have no clue where or what to do… not only that... but the one thing I swore to do when you past, was to live my life alone because I couldn't do to anyone else… what I did to you… but I just…"

Emily looked back up towards the sky with a plea like look in her eyes.

"I need to know if it is okay to start moving on from you… I know I said that I had to live my life alone in order to make it up to you… But I am not sure if I want to be alone anymore... I know that a part of me will always love you Joshua… there is no mistake in that… you were the first man I ever truly loved… and I will never forget you or anything you have done for me…"

Emily clutched a hand to her heart as her breath started to speed up as tears flowed out of her eyes at an increased rate.

"But… but I think that I may be falling in love again… I don't know if I just really like him or if it is something more, but I really, really want to see where it goes… So… would it be okay, maybe if just for a little while… I see how it would go with him… to see if I really do love him?"

Emily let out a breath she had been holding as she started to lay all of her raw emotions out in the open. She didn't know if she wanted a sign or just to close a chapter on her life in order to start a new one.

"I just need to know… Is it okay if I be with him? If I… If I… let myself fall in love with Frank Castle?"


	20. Chapter 19

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Hey Guys! Yes I know technically I am updating on Saturday... But I have been asleep all day... Anyway, I know that you have all been waiting patiently for Emily's back story and I want to let you know that the wait will be over soon... I have the chapter written and you should be reading it here in the next few updates... and let me tell you to expect the unexpected...**

* * *

 **Katie R.: Oh I know! I didn't know how everyone would take that part in last chapter, but I am happy that it turned out well. I think that it shows that Emily may be working through her damaging past and that she is finding a new hope in Frank.**

 **Lucy: Hehe don't worry! Her back story is coming! To let you onto a little secret... her backstory will actually be chapter 21-and lets just say that something happens that you will least expect... and hehe don't worry they will be cuddling naked soon... MARK MY WORDS!**

 **Random: Haha, I am glad that you liked how I talked about the kiss all last chapter. I figured that both Emily and Frank would need time to process what just happened to them. Oh and your telling me... like just wait... her back story is really dark and I can't wait for you to read it!**

* * *

About two weeks had passed since Emily had kissed Frank; along with having her drunken melt-down. She had actually just woken up to start the day as it was about eleven in the morning. Rolling around in bed, she placed a hand over her face and sighed deeply. In those two weeks that had passed, she had only seen Frank twice. Each of those times was more of a check in to see if she was doing okay or if she needed anything.

She felt that the two of them were becoming distant and a part of her was sad over that. She didn't know if it was because of what he had heard at the club, or the kiss, or realizing that she was too messed up and broken; she really didn't know what it was and it could be any of those. A part of her was feeling hurt that he was acting this way but the other part was thankful that he wasn't pressing for more information or expecting more from her in regards to their relationship.

However, it would have been nice to see him and talk to him a little more than whatever they were doing recently. Maybe the feelings that she thought were requited were actually all in her head and Frank just wanted some space placed between the two of them. That way, she wouldn't get any more ideas—like kissing him again. Granted, when the two of them shared the kiss, he did kiss back, but Emily thought that maybe he just kissed her back to be kind.

Running a hand through her hair she felt Max come up from the foot of the bed and lay next to her. She placed her free hand in Max's fur and rain her fingers through it. She thought that maybe if she saw Frank again soon she would ask him what they were and the whole nine yards; but was that really necessary? They were two grown adults and they should be able to work out their own issues and deal with this blossoming relationship… right?

"Well Max, I guess we should probably get ready for the day…" Emily voiced out loud.

Max responded by burrowing his head in the covers and acting like he didn't hear her.

"Come on boy, you know that we eventually need to get out of bed and actually do something with our day…"

With that, Emily tried to roll Max over to his side and the only thing that she received from the dog was a large grunt. She tried moving him some more, but when Max wanted to be stubborn, she knew she wasn't going to get him to do anything that he didn't want to do. She couldn't move seventy pounds of pure, raw muscle. So, Emily tossed the blankets to the side and got up and out of her bed.

She headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and just as she was about to place the goopy white toothpaste on the bristles of here toothbrush, she heard her phone ringing. She placed the brush back into its holder and went to go retrieve her cell phone.

"Hey, what's up?"

" _Nothing much going on over here. How are you?"_

"I'm fine. What's with the call, Sal?"

" _Ah well, glad to hear that you are doing well."_

"Sal…"

" _Alright, sheesh. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…"_

"No, I really didn't. I just don't know why you are calling me. Unless you have something I need to fix. In that case, please do continue. If not well it was nice catching up…"

" _Damn it Emily. Like cool your jets here. Yeah I guess I need your help fixing something up. I am actually going to cash in that favor about the free clinic today…"_

Emily drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was actually hoping that Sal would forget about this whole thing and she wouldn't have to go in.

" _Well, I'll take the lack of talking as a yes, you remember our deal. Anyway, there is a little boy whose arm has been broken in like fifty different places and well… you're basically our only hope to save the kid's arm…"_

"Okay… and so what do you want me to do?"

" _Well, I talked to the kid's mother and she can get off work and bring the kid in today; so I was wondering if you could come in and treat him."_

Emily titled her head back and looked at the ceiling. She knew that she had to do this given that she owed Sal, but she was just worried if she could actually go ahead and do the procedure. She knew that her body was going to go into fight or flight mode, it was just a matter of which happened today.

" _Emily, you there?"_

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that. Yeah, I'll be there. Give me and hour and send me the address and I should be able there."

" _Great! Sounds good. Oh, and one more thing, I won't be able to get there today since the club is having an all hands on deck meeting; but don't worry I left you in good hands."_

"What do you mean by that?"

" _Oh, well do you remember your friend Claire Temple?"_

Emily furrowed her eyebrow, not exactly catching on with what he was getting at.

"Yeah, what about her?"

" _Well she has been picking up more and more shifts there and so she will be assisting you today."_

There was only one word that went through Emily's mind at that moment: shit.

* * *

Emily looked down at her phone once more coming to a stop in front of a corner shop. She followed the directions and arrived at the address that Sal had given her, but was confused as to why she was at a thrift shop. Shrugging her shoulders, she thought that she should check it out before calling Sal and asking for the correct directions to the clinic.

Emily pushed open the door and it made a chiming noise alerting the employees that she had entered. However, she noticed that no one was walking around the small store. Emily looked around and let her fingers drift off of the clothes that were hanging up on the rusty racks. Eventually, she made it to the back of the building and found an elderly women flipping through a bland gossip magazine. She never looked up when Emily approached her, and when she finally did look up, it was when Emily stood in front of her and cleared her throat.

The older lady gave her a slight glare and let her beady eyes trace over Emily's figure. This made Emily look down at her dark navy blue jeans, black t-shirt, and winter coat she was wearing thinking that there was something wrong with what she was wearing.

"Whatcha in for?" The old lady spat at her.

"Uh…." Emily responded while threading a hand through her hair and turning slightly feeling that this conversation would be an awkward one.

"Out with it girl. I ain't got all day here"

Emily took a deep breath and let her chest fall abruptly.

"Yeah… so… ummm… I might sound crazy but do you know where the free clinic—"

"Ain't no such thing here. Look around you, all we have is shit clothes for a shit price. If you can't find what you're looking for don't be making up shit—"

"Well, I was just checking because my friend Sal sent me to the free clinic he works at and gave me this address. He probably got it wrong but—"

The women abruptly looked up again from flipping the pages of her magazine and looked at Emily deeply in the eyes. This action made Emily lean back a little as this whole situation was starting to become more and more uncomfortable.

"Are you 'dat lady doc that Sal was talking about?"

"Uhhh, I guess so?" Emily raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Downstairs and to the left."

Emily gave her a quizzical look but watched as the lady returned to her magazine and didn't say anything more than those directions. Taking her hands off of the counter, Emily turned and noticed stairs that lead to a basement, or something to that nature, towards the back, right-hand side of the store.

She headed towards the stairs and descended towards them She reached the final stair and was instantly hit with the smell of sterilization and cleaning solution. Holding back her gag reflex, she continued down the hallway and turned left like the lady upstairs instructed her to do and she came to see, from wall to wall, people standing in line.

Some of them looked up and acknowledged her when rounded the corner, but most of the people there were waiting on getting called so they could be seen by a physician since they all seemed ill. Emily strolled down the hallway filled with sick people to check if there was a desk to check in at or anything to that nature since Sal never gave her any direction as to what to do once she got to the free clinic.

Nearing the end of the hall, she found a desk with a bunch of scattered papers on it, but, alas there was no one working the desk.

"Well, I'll be. I guess someone finally decided to get their head out of their ass and start doing good deeds again."

Emily whipped around on the balls of her feet to come face to face to her longtime, maybe now ex, best friend: Claire.

* * *

"It would have been nice for a heads up from either you or Sal, since I am assuming that he is the one who got you to come over and put your talents to use. Even though, you know, your best friend has been trying to do that for a little over a year now…"

"Claire I'm—"

"You don't get to say sorry Emily…especially not now. Not only do you never pick up when I call you but you have the audacity to talk to Sal and not me…"

Emily was currently helping Claire clean off a dirty chair from an earlier patient. However, regardless of being away from each other for so long, they at least fell into the same quick efficiency that they once shared when working at the hospital together; meaning that they knew how to clean down a room and move patients along in an efficient manner.

"I wasn't going to say sorry Claire. I was just going to say that I am only here because Sal said that he needed me to help out a kid who had broken his arm... He sounded pretty desperate…"

Claire stopped placing the new, white, sheet of paper over the medical chair and looked into Emily's blue eyes.

"Why the hell did he ask you to do that?"

"Well your guess is as good as mine…" Emily extended her arms and shrugged.

Claire picked up the piece of paper once again and straightened out the sheet on the chair while looked down at her hands.

"The kid has like fourteen different bone chips in his arm that broke off when he fractured it. Not to mention that it has gotten infected…" Claire whispered

Emily raised her eyebrows at this. She figured that the kid had bone chips in his arm given that he needed surgery; but finding out that the tissue surrounding the injury was infected, posed a whole new set of issues. That was probably why Sal called her in. If anyone could figure out a way around operating on the infected issue it would be her. Taking a deep breath in, she pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind to the best of her ability, trying to prepare herself for what she was going to say next.

"So, I don't know why Sal invited you here. You don't do surgery anymore and so this kid is going to get his hopes up. I just hope that we can get his situation under control given that I am pretty sure that if this surgery doesn't go right we will probably have to amputate his arm…" Claire tonelessly spoke.

"Where is the kid now?"

Claire looked up at the emotionless eyes of Emily. She knew the real reason why Emily didn't perform surgeries anymore, but it still pissed her off that her best friend left her in the dark for all this time. She wanted to be there for her friend, but there was a lot more at stake than just their friendship. She knew that if Emily couldn't do the surgery then there was no way that Claire could help out—she was only a nurse. She could close the wound but besides that, there wasn't much she could do. So she could either trust Emily or prevent her from doing this surgery and a fourteen-year-old boy will become an amputee…

"What do you mean, where is the kid now," Claire responded gruffly.

"I mean is the kid and his mom in the waiting room right now?" Emily spoke with a rigidness to her voice.

"Yeah, but I don't see how that matters?"

Emily turned and exited out of the patient room and went into the hallway storing all of the patients. Her eyes laded on a teen clutching his gauzed wrapped arm and a worried looking mother. Emily started to approach them with Claire close on her heels. Claire reached out and turned Emily by shoulder so she would stop and look at her.

"What are you doing, Emily? We both know you can't perform this…"

Emily sighed and looked deeply into Claire's eyes.

"I'm going to tell that mother that you're going to prep her son for surgery and that I am going to go save his arm. That is what I am doing."

With that, Emily shrugged off Claire's hand and finished her walk to where the son and his mother were. Claire watched as she felt her decision was made for her. She just hoped that both the boy and Emily would come out of this in one piece.

* * *

Emily pushed the doors open from the surgical room. She started to rip off her bloody gloves, throwing them in the sink, along with the blood stained surgical gown, the clean cap and shoe covers. She knew what was about to happen, as she gripped the sink and started to shake. Emily didn't think and didn't obey standard surgical protocol as she hurriedly ran to the doors located down the hallway and pushed her way through, as they kept swinging once she passed through them.

Emily had finally made it outside as she felt the cold air hit her face and it was a welcome relief. She was still shaking and she felt her bile start to rise from her stomach and into her throat. She was able to make the two feet trip so she was next to the dumpster as Emily bent her back, hunched over, and started to vomit.

She could feel her insides curling as she had lost all that she had consumed that day. When the contents of her stomach was empty, she started to dry heave through her rushed breaths for air. Emily spat her foul tasting spit on the ground as she moved her hair out of the way. Her brain was yelling at her that she needed to breath, but her stomach had other ideas as another lurch went through her body and she started to dry heave again.

But out of all this pain—it was worth it. Emily had successfully saved the boys arm and combated the infection as if it was nothing. She had actually started out great, much to her and Claire's disbelief, but the moment that Emily sliced into the boy's arm, the memories started to flood back to her. But she wouldn't let the boy lose his arm because she was too weak to get over herself and her past.

However, the worst part was when she finally removed the last bone chip from the boy's arm and she had a memory of her late boyfriend covered in blood on the surgical table in front of her. It was almost as if the boy was replaced with the dead body of her former lover and that was when she froze up. Emily shook her head and wiped her mouth with the back of her arm. She tried standing up slightly, testing to see if she needed to dry heave anymore.

Emily was about a quarter of the way up from being hunched over and she never didn't turn around when she heard the door open again. She had assumed it was Claire who had followed her out here since there was no one else that she knew. Before Emily took off, she was able to tell Claire to close up the wound and instruct the mother that the surgery was a success.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"Done what? Saved a kid's arm?" Emily muttered not turning around.

"Put yourself through that."

That was when Emily turned around to squint at her once, close friend.

"I'm fine Claire."

"That's bull and you know it."

"Seriously… I'm—"

"Don't you dare say that you are fine. Not only are you shaking but I can clearly see that you just lost your lunch there…It's been about thirty minutes and I knew you were probably out here doing just that, and I guess I'm right."

"Yeah, well congratulations for being correct Claire…"

Emily looked down and traced the dirt stains on her shoes and ran a hand through her hair. She didn't know how to interact with Claire anymore. Everything had just become so complicated and there had just been so much stuff that had happened that she didn't know how to bridge the gap between them—and she didn't know if she really wanted to close the gap at this point anyway.

"Have you talked to someone about it?"

Emily snapped her head up and locked eyes with Claire's.

"Seriously?"

"Don't mock me Emily. I really think that you should go see someone—"

"And have them tell me what? That I am crazy? That everything wasn't my fault?"

Claire just pressed her lips into a line and extended her arms out as if to say, "what more can I say?"

Emily took a deep breath and adverted her eyes again.

"Well, I guess that I should probably head out…"

Emily started to walk past Claire, but Claire started to speak.

"Emily, just wait a second…"

Emily stopped and turned her head to look at Claire who was now right beside her.

"I think what you did today was something amazing and when I saw you again, I guess, I let my personal feelings get in the way of everything. You did what none of us could do, all of us who actually work for the free clinic, and it was like magic how you fixed that boy's arm. I guess that I am just worried about your sanity… It has been over a year and you are still feeling like this… I'm just… I'm still worried about you. Pissed that you have ignored all my calls and texts, but still worried nonetheless."

Emily closed her eyes and took another deep breath and hoped that she wasn't going to resent her next statement.

"I'm going to go get some coffee, would you like to come? We can catch up and you can yell at me some more if you want… but I'm actually kind of hungry…"

Emily watched out of the corner of her eye as she saw Claire smile at her.

"I would like that. Let's just go grab out coats really quick and we can take off."

Emily let Claire walk through the door before her as she ran a hand through her own disheveled hair. She took another deep breath, trying to calm her remaining nerves. She had calmed down considerably when she was having her conversation with Claire. However, she was still shaking like she was overcome by chills. Maybe, just maybe, Claire was right. Maybe she should tell someone everything that had happened to her… but who would be brave enough to listen to her and pick up all the pieces of her broken heart after she served them out on a platter?

* * *

"Oh my god… you kissed Matt!? How did I not know about this!?" Emily squealed.

The pair of them were currently sitting in the same diner that Emily and Frank had been in only two weeks earlier. Claire and Emily both felt the distance between them melt away as they continued with their conversation. They had been there for a little over three hours now, hashing through everything and anything, getting it out in the open.

All the while, Emily seemed to have calmed down and didn't have another episode. Her shaking had subsided and her thoughts were in a better place at the moment. The pair had ordered food and now they were each sipping on their respective drink. Hot chocolate for Emily and green tea for Claire.

"Well, I mean he just saved me and things just... kinda happened" Claire blushed throwing her hands up in the air slightly.

Emily started to laugh as she watched Claire's face.

"Yeah, well I have to ask, how was it?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I wanna know," Emily smiled at her friend.

"It was… sensual and sweet. I mean it was in the morning and he was letting me stay at his place because some stuff went down—"

"Wait… So you're telling me that you stayed at Matt's place and nothing more happened than a kiss between the two of you?"

"Yes Emily, not everything has to lead somewhere."

"I know, but I am surprised that Matt was able to keep it in his pants. I swear that guy is dating a new girl every week, at least it seems like that… First it was you, then it was Karen, and then Electra... not to mention the long string of girls he had in law school that hung onto his every word. Every time I turn around he is dating someone new…"

"Okay, just to make it clear, we were never dating. I mean, I didn't want to let myself fall in love with someone who I knew was battling not only against Hell's kitchen but also himself."

"I can understand that."

The two women smiled at each other and laughed when Emily made another comment stating that Matt was a player and he was going through girls left and right. They agreed that his moniker of the devil of Hell's kitchen suited him well given all the girls he goes through.

"So enough about me, anything new going on with your life? I feel like these past couple of hours were spent mostly catching up on my life and you only shared a few minor details about your own…"

Emily looked down at her hot chocolate and sighed.

"Okay, out with it. Now that you made that face, I have to know."

"What face?" Emily stated simply looking up at Claire again.

"You know, that face you make when you are debating whether or not to keep something a secret from me. I'm telling you that with the people I have helped and the things that I have seen lately, I know how to keep a secret."

Emily took in Claire's features and ran a hand through her hair. She glanced around the diner to make sure that they were the only ones I there.

"Do you remember a little while ago where that guy was on trial for killing all of those people for revenge upon his family's deaths?" Emily whispered.

"Yeah what about it?"

"Well, let's just say that, that guy isn't dead…"

Claire dropped her voice to a whisper to match Emily's even though there was no one else in the diner.

"Emily, what are you telling me, that Frank Castle isn't dead?"

"He isn't…"

…and?"

"He and I are kind of in this complicated relationship…"

"Now it is my turn to say oh my god. Really Emily? You were judging me for kissing Matt and you say you are in a complicated relationship with one of the most wanted men in New York's history before he was declared deceased…"

"Claire, before you go about and start thinking that he is bad…"

Claire took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Emily, I trust you. But did you ever stop to think about housing a wanted man? I mean what happens if the cops come around and they find him there? Not to mention, why did you say complicated relationship, and don't think you slipped that past me."

Emily smiled at Claire's smirk. She knew that Claire was trying to take this all in stride to the best of her ability. But she knew her friend, all girls loved learning the drama of their best friend's love life.

"Well, complicated in the fact that we live together…"

"And…?"

"And I sorta… kinda… kissed him the other night when he was walking me home…" Emily blushed profusely and refused to look Claire in the eye.

Claire gawked at her and smiled not believing what she was hearing.

"Well, now you know I have to ask…"

"What?"

"How was it?"

The two women looked at each other and started laughing uncontrollably at Claire's comment.

"But seriously, how was the kiss?"

"Not what I expected, I'll tell you that much," Emily stated, blowing air through her nostrils and sat back in the booth.

"Why wasn't it how you expected? Was he rough or something? Did he want to take it too far… because if he did, I don't care who he is I'll—"

"No, no! It was nothing like that," Emily said while waving her hands back and forth indicating that wasn't it, "He was… soft and gentle with me…"

Claire looked at Emily almost as if she was hanging onto every word she was saying, trying to listen to the sensual kiss Emily was describing.

"I didn't know what I was thinking, but I just… everything happened so fast. One moment I was walking next to him and the next moment I realize; I have my lips pressed against his soft ones. When he snaked an arm around me to deepen our kiss, I felt… I don't know what I felt… I guess I was just… happy… I was happy…" Emily trailed off as a small smile found its way onto her face.

"It sounds like the two of you share the same feelings since he kissed you back, Emily."

Emily sighed and shook her head no.

"See that is the thing… I don't know if he likes me like that…"

"Then there is only one thing to do then…"

"And what is that oh, wise one?"

The two of them cracked a smile at Emily's comment but it quickly became serious again as Claire continued.

"You have to tell him how you feel…"

"But—"

"Let me finish… You have to tell him how you feel… and I think that you also have to tell him everything about you as well… The things that you don't want to tell anyone else, that you don't want anyone else to know. I think you need to bare your heart to him so he understands how you feel about him. And, if he still doesn't like you as you like him… well then you will know and hold no regrets or what-ifs…"

"Again I—"

"Because I think once you tell him, the things that you have bottled up deep inside of you… the things that you haven't told anyone… you will finally start to heal Emily. You owe it to yourself to start moving on—even if Frank Castle doesn't return your feelings. You need to learn how to forgive and love yourself again and by letting someone else in, I think that you will be able to do just that. And who knows… after Frank knows everything that you are hiding behind those walls… he may surprise you and stay… maybe he will even come to love you back."


	21. Chapter 20

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Hey guys! Sorry that this is late, I had family over to my apartment for the holiday and I wasn't able to update. Anyway, just a warning, but I may not be updating this week because it is dead week (week before my finals) and I have to study. However, if I do miss this week, I will update twice next week.**

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 **Guest: You'll want to give her a really big hug come chapter 21!**

 **Mun3litKnight: I am so glad you like my story! It brings me a lot of joy that you and many others enjoy reading it :) ****. And I think that a confession is on the horizon as well…**

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It was about a week later, and it was Emily's least favorite day of the whole year: her birthday. So far, no one had actually said anything to her about it, and she was quite glad about that fact. Claire didn't even send those dreadful words in a text because she knows how much Emily hates her birthday. Also, she was happy that Matt didn't send her a message either. Granted she wasn't expecting anything from him, since he had been MIA for about three weeks now.

She was getting used to him stopping by and now it felt strange that he wasn't popping in to check in on her anymore. Not to mention, that she actually hadn't seen Frank in a while. Sometimes, she would catch him leaving in the morning or when he would stop by for no more than ten minutes to check up on her. It made her believe that maybe the kiss that they shared was really just a onetime deal and that would be the line that was drawn in regards to their "romantic" relationship.

But on the other hand, Emily did leave Frank a key on the kitchen counter to the front door of the apartment. She had only just realized that she never gave him one, and so she left it on the counter. When she awoke the next morning it was gone, with Frank presumably taking it so he didn't have to enter through the window or however he had been entering her apartment in the past.

Emily finally reached the top of the staircase that led to the floor of her apartment. However, as she moved closer to her front door, she could hear a man drunkenly scream and kick a door repeatedly. Emily stopped in the middle of the hallway and took a deep breath hoping that it wasn't who she thought it was. She put one foot in front of the other and kept her eyes straight forward going to her own apartment door.

However, she did steal a quick glance at the man and she was right. The man that was pounding on the door was no other than Vinny Tortillini, the man who her next door neighbor had a restraining order on. The man refused to pay child support even though the couple was officially separated and the law was after him—majority of the time.

He used to abuse Mary and her son Nick, the twelve-year-old who brought in his portable game system in for Emily to fix when it broke. The same mother that Emily refused to charge given that the two of them were good company. Vinny knew that Emily had a relationship with Mary and her son and sometimes demanded that she tell them where they were, when they wouldn't open the door when he was on his alcohol fueled rampages. However, tonight, Vinny seemed to be on something more, something stronger than just alcohol.

Alcohol was clearly present in his system, but he mixed it with something else to create this destructive violence that he was exhibiting on the door. Emily had never seen Vinny act like this, and only one time did she see behavior like this. It was when she was doing her rounds at the hospital and a young man, no older than twenty-eight, came in with an overdose of alcohol and meth—and Vinny was exhibiting the same symptoms that young man was.

Emily knew that Mary and her son moved out about a month ago to someplace where the school system was better. Not only that, but Mary was nervous that Vinny had found out where they were living again. A part of her knew that Mary never told him that they were living in this apartment complex, and now Emily knew that if Vinny tried asking her anything, she had to defend Mary and her son Nick—to give them their best chance at getting away from their past. Whilst Emily was thinking, she casually got her keys out of her bag and was flipping through them, trying to find the correct one, when a gruff, slurred and angry voice sounded behind her.

"You that bitch that spoke to Mary and Nick about me and they gone since you live here now…"

Emily tried to ignore the man and his broken English and shoved the key into the hole in order to unlock her door. But just as she was about to push the door open, she felt a hand on her shoulder that whipped her around. Emily's back hit the door with a loud thud sound and she could smell Vinny's nasty alcohol stained breath hit her nostrils. Choking back a gag, Emily swallowed it harshly back down.

"You fuckin' told 'dem 'dat I would be there… You fuckin' told 'em 'dat I needed money you bitch!"

"Get off of me Vinny… I have no clue what the hell you are talking about…" Emily said while pushing against the man, barely making him move.

Emily tried to push him again to get him off of her, but to no avail. He was too far strung out on drugs to realize what he was doing, and Emily could tell that his slurred speech was due to the drugs making the synapses in his brain fire off nerves in an alarming rate—more than what the brain can usually do or take.

Vinny slammed his hand on the door that was keeping Emily pinned against Vinny bringing Emily abruptly back to giving him her full attention. The loud crack of his hand against the door made Emily flinch. She knew that she needed to get away, because the next blow would be to her face.

"Where 'da fuck did they go? I know you're hiding 'dem from me… I'm not going to fall for your fuckin' bullshit again, bitch…"

"Vinny, I honestly have no idea where they are. Even if I did have any idea, what on earth would make you think that I would tell you given how you are treating me right now?" Emily questioned with a sassy tone to her voice.

Emily bit her tongue knowing that she probably shouldn't have said that to the man who had her pinned, but she would be damned if he was going to hurt Mary and her kid again. It took a few seconds for the gears to turn in Vinny's head as he realized what Emily was saying to him. Before Vinny could lash out at Emily, she was able to bring her leg up and kick him in the shin.

This seemed to have worked given that the man cursed at her and started to back away from her, gipping the spot that was radiating pain where Emily had just kicked him. This gave Emily the opportunity to reach down and turn the knob on her door to open it in hopes of getting away from the intoxicated man. However just as Emily was about to press her weight into the door to open it, Vinny grabbed Emily by the hair and pulled her head back.

Emily instantly threw her hands into her own hair to try and fight Vinny's death grip. The pain to her scalp brought tears to her eyes. Vinny took this moment to throw Emily against the wall in the corner between her apartment and the vacant one that Mary and Nick left behind.

"Now I ain't going to repeat myself again bitch. You gonna tell me where they are or am I gonna have to teach you a fuckin' lesson?"

Emily tried to take a deep breath but realized that the air had escaped her lungs when she was flung against the wall. She just looked at Vinny with tears in her eyes, unable to do anything as he adjusted his grip from her hair onto her neck, squeezing the little air she did have left, out of her completely. She would be damned if she told Vinny where they were. She wouldn't allow a man as disgusting as him to hurt them any longer—even if it meant that she would be taking their place. Emily saw that Vinny wound his arm up as if to punch her in the face and the only thing she could do was close her eyes and hope that the pain would end soon.

However, the pain never came and after what seemed to be like a minute, Emily opened her eyes and discovered that Vinny's wrist was inches away from hitting her cheek with a right hook, but looking further on, she saw that Vinny was struggling to rip his hand out of the vice like grip someone had on his wrist. Emily turned her head to the left and saw Frank with a deadly look in his eyes.

"Walk away man, this don't got nothin' do with you…" Vinny slurred while staring with malice at Frank.

"It became my problem when you decided to take out your issues on my girl here… not to mention that I am pretty sure the people you are looking for are trying to get away from you…"

"I told you to fuck off man!" Vinny screamed at Frank while tightening his grip on Emily's throat.

Emily would have swooned at the fact that Frank just called her his girl but given the predicament she was in, the only thing that crossed her mind was the fact that she couldn't breathe. Emily moved her hands to where Vinny was strangling her and tried to pull the death grip away from her throat. This action made her wince and that was all it took to set Frank in action. Frank charged Vinny and threw him up against the vacant apartment door. Emily stood there trying to catch her breath as she saw Frank start to beat Vinny's face in.

Emily watched as blood started to spurt from Vinny's nose as she could tell that Frank had just broken it. She watched as Frank brought out his gun and placed it on Vinny's temple as he muttered a phrase under his breath that Emily couldn't quite catch. Emily knew that this wasn't the time or place, because anyone who lived in the apartment would have no issues blaming Frank if it meant keeping themselves out of jail.

"Frank… please don't…" Emily gasp, testing her voice, rubbing the place where Vinny had his hands around her throat just moments before.

Emily could see Frank hesitate as Vinny just stood there with his head leaning against the wall in defeat.

"Frank, he isn't worth it…"

With those simple words, Frank started to step back from the man, and rammed his gun against Vinny's face to knock him out. Emily let out a deep breath knowing that no one would care if Vinny was beaten to a pulp and passed out—as long as he wasn't dead—as bad as that sounded. But just as fast as Frank had knocked out the man, he turned around and took in Emily's appearance.

Her hair was tousled from where Vinny had gripped her and he could see the faint outlines of red where Vinny had his hands on her neck. Emily was about to say something to Frank, but Frank just shook his head and took her hand in his, to help her up. But instead of letting Emily do the work, it was almost as if Frank was able to hoist her up by the arm easily as if she were a child. Frank dropped her hand and walked the few feet to her door and opened it. He motioned for Emily to walk through the door first in order to make sure the two of them were safe inside.

Frank wanted to kill that man. Not only was he taking out his aggression on Emily, but he knew that he had taken out his aggression on the people Emily was trying to protect. He knew she was trying to protect someone, because she wouldn't endanger herself unless it was to protect another. It amazed him how she would go through anything if it meant protecting people she cared about. When she spoke, her voice seemed like it was the only thing that mattered. To him, that voice belonged to the one person who he was trying to protect, the one who he would do anything for.

"Thank you, Frank."

Emily had moved in front of the man as they went inside. She knew Frank was lost in thought and she hoped that he wasn't angry at her for what had happened. She looked around her office and eventually let her eyes land on Frank's once again.

"Doc, have you ever thought about moving?" Frank said casually while letting his thumb rub over Emily's cheek.

Emily looked into Frank's worried eyes and sighed. She knew that this conversation was going to come sooner rather than later.

"Honestly, I do. Sometimes I think that I should just move and not worry about all of these cruel people who wash up every so often. But other times, I feel blessed for living here…"

"What do you mean by that?"

Emily blew air out of her nose and smiled slightly making Frank give her a questioning look.

"I don't know, it's stupid…"

"I doubt it, Doc."

Emily licked her lips as her cheeks started to turn pink. Whatever it was, Frank knew that the confession was making Emily nervous.

"If I never ended up living here… I never would have met you Frank…"

Frank closed his eyes soaking in Emily's words. He was getting in far too deep with this girl, but he couldn't walk away. There was no way he could walk away when she said things like that to him. He was supposed to be hard and tough, not touched with these petty emotions. Frank opened his eyes once again and looked into Emily's curious eyes.

She was probably waiting for a reply back or him to say something of equal value. However, instead of talking, Frank used his free hand and rested it behind Emily's neck. He tilted her head up slightly letting her soft hair cascade around her face and fall onto his hand. Frank pulled her forward and placed a kiss on her forehead while dropping his hand on her cheek in order to wrap the same hand around her waist to pull her into a hug. He knew that he wouldn't be able to say the right words, especially with his conflicted feelings. So, he did what he did best, put his words in the form of action.

He was once again enveloped by the intoxicating smell of lavender. That scent was like his drug… She was his drug. He couldn't get enough of her even though he needed to stop seeing her in order to break his addiction. But how could he break it off if this just felt so right?

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Emily was walking up to the fire escape with two mugs of coffee. When she confessed to Frank why she didn't mind that she lived in the shit hole that she did, he surprised her with his actions. She knew that there was something he wasn't telling her, but she just as equally couldn't say all that was on her mind.

After the two had parted, Frank just sidestepped her and opened the widow that lead up to the fire escape. He stopped and looked back at Emily as if to say that he needed air and that he wouldn't be far from her. It had been about a half an hour and Emily found herself bringing up coffee to him.

Emily found Frank staring out over the horizon watching the cars pass by on all the busy New York streets. She slowly walked up to him, and instead of saying anything, just outstretched her hand that held the plain black mug filled to the brim with black coffee. Frank gave her a look and graciously accepted the warm liquid. Emily tucked her free hand underneath her arm and over her chest as if to preserve some of the warmth that was once there. She didn't grab a jacket before coming outside, since she was only planning on making sure that Frank was okay up here.

Emily looked out past the roof top and watched the cars pass down below as she sipped her own coffee.

"I'm sorry…"

Emily turned to look at Frank and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry for not getting to you quick enough"

"Frank there was no way for you to have known. I'm just happy that you got there when you did."

"But Doc, if I wasn't there then that man…"

Emily turned and placed a hand on Frank's bicep pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Frank, nothing happened and I am sure nothing is going to happen again, okay? I am safe and there is nothing that is going to happen to me. As long as you are here I'm safe"

"Doc that's—"

"Frank I know you are worried about me but you need to think about yourself sometimes too. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself… in most situations"

This brought the pair to an uneasy silence. Uneasy in the sense that Emily felt that Frank needed to care for himself and not just for her. She wanted him to be able to let someone in and not have to worry about losing them. The two of them stood there in silence as Emily started to rub her arms and Frank returned to staring out and watched the passing cars with his lips pressed in a line.

Emily was just about to turn to go back downstairs but her phone chimed alerting her that she had an incoming text message.

 _Happy Birthday Emily –Claire_

Emily wiped her finger across the screen to remove some of the smudges from it. She blew air out of her nose and rolled her eyes and typed a message in response.

 _Thanks. You know how much I enjoy it. Please note the sarcasm in that. –Emily_

Emily was about to put her phone back in her pocket but her phone buzzed again. Emily looked up at Frank and he just raised her eyebrows at her. Emily pressed her lips together in a tight smile as if to say that she was only going to be a little longer.

 _I'm surprised you actually texted me back –Claire_

 _Yeah, well don't get used to it. –Emily_

 _So any plans? –Claire_

 _Not Really. –Emily_

 _You should invite Frank over –Claire_

 _Why do you say that? –Emily_

 _Because you shouldn't be alone on your birthday. –Claire_

 _Plus, you should really tell Frank how you feel. –Claire_

 _Wait, what? –Emily_

 _You know exactly what I mean. I know that you really like him Emily, it is so clearly plastered all over your face. Plus, I think you need to let someone in. I may not approve of Frank Castle, especially being the person you confide in, but I know that he means something to you. You should take a leap of faith and tell him what you are not willing to tell anyone else. He may surprise you. –Claire_

Emily blew a forceful breath out of her noise and shoved the device back into her pocket. She knew that Claire probably had a point, but she didn't know if she was ready to let anyone see that ugly side to her.

"You okay?" a husky voice sounded next to Emily.

Emily looked up at Frank and sighed.

"Yeah, just a friend trying to butt into certain aspects of my life that she probably shouldn't."

Frank relaxed slightly knowing that Emily was talking to a girl. He didn't know why but he felt slightly jealous at the fact she was texting someone before he knew that it was a girl.

"I can't imagine you're taking shit from her."

"Heh, she is the only one I do take shit from. She worked with me when I was working at the hospital and she always kept me on track with how I should deal with patients and other situations that presented themselves at the hospital…"

"She sounds like a good friend then."

"She is."

Emily looked back up at Frank and gave him a soft, warm smile due to their conversation about Claire. She turned and was about to head back downstairs since she felt that Frank wanted some more time to be alone. Nevertheless, Frank surprised Emily by carefully snatching her wrist in his hand, making her turn and look back up at him.

"Doc…"

Emily watched as Frank ran a hand through his hair as if he was nervous and couldn't find the right words. So, Emily patiently waited until he did find the words that he wanted to speak knowing that they were important.

"Doc… I hope that you are having a happy birthday…"

Emily looked at him curiously and opened her mouth, but shut it when she realized that Frank was still not done talking.

"I just… here…"

Frank shoved his hand in his pocket and dropped Emily's wrist from his light hold. He dug around in his pocket until he pulled out a little brown paper bag and handed it to Emily. Emily turned the bag over in her hand, not expecting Frank to get her anything.

"Frank, you didn't have to get me anything—"

"Doc, just open the damn thing…" Frank muttered and Emily caught on to the hint of nervousness that was washing over Frank.

Emily fingered the paper and found the fold of the bag and proceeded to open the flap. Emily tipped the bag over her hand and a small necklace emerged from the contents of it. Emily turned it over and it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. There was a small oval piece of turquoise attached to the middle of a gold chain that had simple notches in it creating a knot-like feeling to it. Emily gasp at how beautiful the piece of jewelry was and looked up at Frank in disbelief.

"The lady at the pawn shop said that turquoise was the stone of your birth month and I figured it looked nice enough to get you for your birthday…" Frank shrugged nonchalantly.

Emily looked up into Franks eyes as tears were brought to her own.

"Frank, you shouldn't have…" Emily whispered.

"Wait, do you not like it?"

Emily shook her head to Frank's comment.

"Frank… I love it… its beautiful…"

Emily traced over the small oval shaped turquoise once again not believing that Frank got her something—especially something this beautiful and delicate. Emily was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Frank clear his throat and she looked up at him.

"If you uh… turn around and lift your hair. I'll put it on for you."

Emily Placed the small piece of jewelry in Frank's palm and turned around, lifting her hair in the process. She could feel Frank's warm hands on the back of her neck trying to fasten the clasp and the contact with his skin made her shiver, noticing how she was starting to get really cold from being outside for too long without a coat.

Emily felt Frank get the clasp of the necklace and she let her hair fall down around her. She turned back around to face Frank as she looked down to marvel at how elegant the necklace looked.

"Thank you Frank… really you shouldn't have gotten me something."

"Doc, it's your birthday. Everyone needs to get at least some sort of gift on your birthday."

"Still… Thank you."

"No problem Doc."

Emily smiled up at Frank and placed a hand on his chest immediately feeling his warmth radiate off of him. She looked up into his eyes to seek some sort of allowance for what she was going to do next. Emily didn't see any warning signs that told her to stop so she kept a hand twiddling her necklace as she lifted up on the balls of her feet.

She finally closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Frank's as she felt his hands wrap around her waist as her hand that was not fiddling with her necklace was placed on Frank's cheek. Frank pulled her close noticing how cold Emily was as their chest collided together. The two of them kept pace with each other as they were enveloped into the other. Emily pulled on Frank's bottom lip with her teeth and this sparked a growl-like sound from Frank's throat.

Frank responded to the action by tipping Emily back and kissing her more reverently, letting himself be washed away by the scent of lavender that was proving to still be the most addictive drug to him. Eventually the two of them parted only to catch their breath. Emily's face was not only red due to the cold, but because of their heated make out session.

Before she even realized it, Emily's mouth was speaking before her brain could comprehend what her tongue was saying.

"Frank… I need to tell you something."

"What is it Doc?" Frank asked looking into Emily's blue eyes with a peaceful look written across his face.

"I need to tell you about what happened to me… I need to tell you why I can't operate on anyone and why I get panic attacks… I need to finally be honest with not only you… but also with myself about what happened all those nights ago… Because I am afraid that if I don't tell you now, I have a feeling that I may regret it for the rest of my life…"


	22. Chapter 21

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Well y'all, we have officially come to the chapter of Emily's backstory. I hope you all enjoy learning about her and please, don't punch me for what happens at the end!**

 **P.S. I should be updating again either tomorrow or Saturday given that I missed last week and I am basically done with the semester. So along with this chapter, keep your eyes peeled for the next installment which should be coming your way soon!**

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 **Lucy: Yeah, I wanted him to get her something for her birthday so she can always think of him and that cliche sort of thing. However, your tissues will be much needed for this chapter!**

 **88: I know that you posted a comment on chapter 4, but I am assuming that you will get to this chapter eventually, so I am just posting a response to your review here! Thank you so much for the kind words and I am glad you enjoy the story :) It always warms my heart to hear that. Hehe, I'm glad that you liked that last paragraph and I hope that the rest of this story is as good as the first couple chapters for you!**

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Emily and Frank had parted from their kiss and now Frank was just waiting for Emily to speak again. He didn't know whether to wait and listen to what she had to say when she was ready to speak or if he should ask her if she was going to say anything at all. Maybe he should just bring up something else and that would ease Emily into what she wanted to tell him.

It was a cold night as the two of them stood there drinking the last remains of their coffee. Frank was nice enough to loan her his leather jacket again, as he could deal with the cold better than Emily could. When they broke apart from their embrace, he could visibly see Emily shaking from the cold and so he shrugged off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.

Frank looked over at Emily and saw that she was picking at her fingernails indicating the stress that was placed upon her when she mentioned that she wanted to tell him about her past.

"Doc, if you don't want to, you don't have to tell me. We all have bad shit that happens to us, and I am sure as hell not one to judge. Especially with all the bad shit that I have done…"

"I know you don't care if I tell you or not, but I just don't know how your opinion of me will change once you know what caused me to be so fucked up…"

Emily ran a hand through her hair and blew air out of her mouth, letting her cheeks puff up, as the air that exited caused a white stream to form due to the cold air.

"I just… I don't want shit to change between us Frank…"

"What if I told you that your past wouldn't reflect how I feel about you now?"

Emily turned her head and smiled sadly at Frank. It was as if she knew that what she was going to tell Frank would make him think differently about her.

"I know this is scary Doc…"

"You're the only person who I have ever told anyone about this Frank… the only one…"

Frank looked at her with concern in her eyes. She had been keeping this bottled up not only for the past few months but for her whole life? Emily cleared her throat and looked out across the roof top and watched the cars pass by one another.

"My mother… my mother had me in a dumpster… She never went to the hospital or told anyone she was pregnant with me because she was worried that they would stop her from getting her next fix of crack. She apparently was going to leave me in that dumpster but some change of heart made her keep me."

"Emily I—"

"Please Frank… Just… let me finish…"

Frank just looked at her and saw the tears start to well up in her eyes. All he wanted to do was hold her close and comfort her but he knew that she needed to get this out—that she needed to open up to someone in order to move on.

"I would watch her try to score some on the corners of the darkest parts of New York city and those were actually my earliest memories of childhood. My own mother, not caring about anything but finding crack. And it was even worse after she shot up because once the paranoia kicked in she would think I was a demon and she would try to attack me given her hallucinations…"

Emily wiped some of the tears that had fallen out of the corner of her eyes and took a shaky breath trying to continue on.

"However, that wasn't the worst part. One night, when I was about six years old, she didn't have enough money for the boy at the corner store and so she decided to come to an agreement where she would sell me to him in order to get her next fix. I knew something was wrong when the man started to approach me, and I took off as fast as my little feet could carry me."

"I ran up and down alleyways and never once looked back. I ended up spending three days hiding in a back alleyway, eating the scraps that restaurants threw out. Until that is, there was a fight night in one of the warehouses attached to the alleyway that I was staying in. Someone had brought their young son to the fights and he ventured out in the alleyway.'

"That was when that little boy, Henry, saw me. I don't know if he felt sorry for me or what, but that entire night he stayed with me until his father, who carried boxing gloves, came out searching for him. I didn't know at the time, but they were probably the closest thing to what I would call a miracle. The pair of father and son didn't have any money, but the boy's father extended his hand to me and I took it."

Emily ran a hand through her hair and smiled at the more positive memory of her father and brother finding her.

"I'm glad that someone took you in…"

"Heh, you're telling me… I sometimes wish that I could go back and spend more time with them if I could."

"I understand that feeling…"

Emily stole a quick glance at Frank and realized that talking about her own family was maybe causing him to have flashbacks about his own.

"Frank, if this is too much of a trigger or something for you I can—"

"I'm fine, Doc. Please continue if you want."

Emily took another shaky breath and started to hold the tears back.

"I uhh… well… where was I?"

"Your father and brother, Henry just took you in..."

"Okay, well uhh… yeah so David, my father, was in the underground boxing world if you couldn't have guessed. The three of us worked really well with each other. I was the smart, bookworm of the family, while Henry was the social butterfly, and my dad, well he was amazing. He was my dad. He was the first person besides Henry to love me and tried to protect me from anything harmful…"

Emily quickly wiped away a stray tear and sniffled.

"However, there was one night that we were there that my father was supposed to lose when I was around seventeen years old. That was how he was making money that night. People were paying him to lose and that just wasn't my father so when he refused, they put in an opposing fighter who had some metal or something in his gloves… and he killed him. I watched my father die in the ring and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"That was also when my powers awakened, when I was clutching my father's bloody head on my lap, letting my tears roll down my face and onto his. I could see all that was wrong and knowing that I could have fixed it… but I didn't know why I was thinking the way that I was… I didn't know I had this ability until it was too late… I was scared… I let my father pass away on me. And after that things just got worse."

"Henry and I had this big fight when our father died. Henry was afraid that we would be placed out on the streets and he was getting offers to go work with the Russians… I told him that he shouldn't go and that we could work it out, but he slammed the door in my face and I got up and left for medical school…the very next day."

"I didn't see him for a while after that. I had actually completed my degree and was doing my residency at New York Presbyterian when he sought me out. But not before I met my late boyfriend, Joshua. You think that with all the drama that went on with my brother and him going to go join the Russian gang I would have stayed far far away from another Russian. But this Russian so happened to be Sal's half-brother."

"I don't know why, but we instantly hit it off even though he was slightly older than myself. I found that I belonged somewhere for the first time since my father passed away. I grew more and more attached to Joshua as the days went by. However, one fateful night when I was finally hired on as a permanent staff surgeon, I had a visit from the brother I had written off."

Emily rubbed her thumbs on the back of her knuckles. Her knuckles had turned white do to the grip she now had on the half-wall that enclosed the roof.

"Henry told me that he was in something deep and he needed my help to get out of. He was so scared that the Russians were going to do something to him and evidently, Henry had brought his friend Evgeni, with him to come ask me for my help. I should had said no… I should have told him anything but what I did…"

"What did you say?" Frank questioned.

A smirk littered Emily's face as she responded, "I told him that I would help him no matter what because he was family…"

Frank was about to say something but Emily interjected more with her story.

"But it didn't matter that I was patching up men in some dark warehouse or anything to that nature because they didn't tell me anything. The Russians were actually fairly kind to me knowing that I was there on their side helping them try to win the war against the rest of Hell's Kitchen. But I… I should have known that helping them would not turn out well for me in the end…"

"Doc… what happened?"

Emily tried to blink away the tears as she started to feel a panic attack come on as her breaths started to pick up. Emily tried to breathe in through her nose and exhale through her mouth and that seemed to do the trick for the time being and she continued on, answering Frank's question.

"Well, I was at the hospital for a night shift and Joshua wanted me to go home early with him since there wasn't anyone there and it was a slow night—which was strange for New York city. And for the love of me, I can't even remember what we fought about that night, but I remember him getting really pissed off with me and leaving."

"However, not even thirty minutes later, I see on the news that a bunch of apartments were engulfed in flames and the activity of the hospital picked up tremendously. People with second and third degree burns were coming in left and right and I was running from room to room trying to save as many people as I could… It was just absolute chaos..."

Emily swallowed harshly, tasting the bile that was threatening to come up.

"I uhh… I didn't have my phone on, and never realized that I had so many missed messages… since I was trying to work to save the people from Fisk's fires… and well… when I was exiting one of the surgery rooms I heard my name being screamed. I heard my friend Claire run towards me."

"I knew that it wasn't something good since she would have been focused on helping more patients instead of coming and finding me. She led me through the crowed hallways and there right in the middle of the sea of people was my brother, Henry…"

Emily let out a gasp and let the tears start to fall silently.

"Henry was in the buildings when they went up… he had third degree burns covering about forty percent of his body… and it was the first time that my ability ever failed me. I saw my brother there gasping from breath with his non-existent, melted esophagus and my ability was silent. I knew that there was nothing I could do but hold my brother's hand as he passed away…"

"What really sucks is that right after my brother passed away, my boss came and took me over to the side and told me that they had to move his body because it was blocking more incoming patients. My boss also told me that I had to wait and mourn until after all of this craziness was over… that I had a job to do. That I should focus on the job and that was the only thing that mattered…"

"To this day… I wish I never listened to him… Because if I didn't listen to him, I would have checked my phone to realize that my brother had called me for help because he was finally going to be getting out of the gang life… that he was finally coming to live with me and be a family again… Not only that, but I would have seen the text that warned me that I needed to get to the Russian's warehouse down by the bay or else something bad was going to happen to me…"

"I never saw the message until it was too late…"

"Doc…" Frank said moving closer to her.

He was done letting her put herself in this horrible place. He didn't care anymore. The stuff that he had heard was screwed up enough… he didn't know how they could get much worse… Emily, however, just held up her hand silently telling Frank that she needed—and wanted—to finish what she had started.

"It was too late, because there was finally a lull with the people coming in from the fires and I wish… I wish every day that I went home with him… that I wasn't stubborn… because I went to help out the EMT's take someone out of the back of the ambulance and there was the man I loved. He not only had burns on him, but he was beaten to an inch of his life along with having three bullet holes through his chest..."

"When I saw him, my heat just stopped… My brain stopped… I stopped breathing… Everything in that moment moved in slow motion. I ran with the bed to the operating room… and there is a reason why there is a rule where you can't operate on your loved ones… because if you don't save them your cursed with replying every mistake you ever made trying to save them… but I was the only surgeon that could perform a surgery at that magnitude… So I did…"

"I suited up, and I went in there and pulled out the bullets from his chest… but something went horribly and incredibly wrong… My ability failed me for the second time that night as Joshua bled out right there on the table in front of me… and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it… And the whole reason why he was there in the emergency room was because that text message told me about the retribution for me not going to that warehouse… because some upper level Russian member was caught in the cross-fires when the flames engulfed half of hell's kitchen… and I wasn't there to save him… so they killed Joshua…"

Emily started to hiccup as the tears flowed out of her eyes and down her face.

"The three most important people in my life died… all because of me, Frank… and I can't… I can't let you get close to me… because I won't let you die too…"

In that moment, Frank didn't care. He moved and pulled Emily close to him. She instantly wrapped her arms around his torso as he rested his chin on top of her head letting her sob into his chest. Emily cried, and cried, and cried. She finally had the release she had been needing for a very long time. Frank just held her close and rocked the pair of them back and forth.

Never in a million years did he ever think that her past would have been as fucked up as it was. She had every right to feel panic when she went into an operating room… how her boss could ever let her operate on her late boyfriend, he would never know. Not only that, but she had to get over her emotions right after her brother passed away. Frank would have given anything in that moment to take away all of these bad memories and replace them with something better.

Frank just couldn't fathom that even with everything that was thrown at her, Emily was still one of the kindest people he had ever met in his life. With all the shit she went through, she still was selfless and would stop at nothing to help the people around her. Frank ran his fingers though Emily's hair as she latched onto his shirt, clinging desperately to him.

The two of them stayed like that for a long time. Frank rocked the pair back and forth while Emily screamed and sobbed into Frank's chest. He just ran his fingers through her hair and tried to calm her to the best of his abilities. He didn't know how well he was doing given that he never was able to comfort people—especially after his own family passed away.

Frank heard Emily sniffle, as he felt a tug against his arms alerting him that she was trying to back up from him. Emily tried to conceal her blotchy face as she wiped her nose. She used her hands to wipe away the remaining tears that were still falling from her eyes.

"God… You must think that I am such a mess, don't you?"

"Doc… that is the last thing that is going through my mind…"

Emily once again smiled sadly at him.

"Thank you Frank…"

"For what?"

"Thank you for listening…"

"… Doc?"

"Yeah?"

"No one should have had to go through all the shit that you had to. I am so sorry that—"

"Frank, my story isn't the only sad one. Like you said, a lot of bad shit happens in a lot of people's lives, right?"

"…"

Emily sighed and tried wiping her face again. She took a deep breath and looked Frank right in the eyes.

"There is also something else…"

"Doc… you can take a break…you don't have to tell me everything in one night… I'm worried about you…"

"You're too good to me Frank…" Emily whispered under her breath.

"Doc…"

"Please Frank…"

Frank just looked at her and debated whether or not to let her continue. But his decision was made for him when Emily started to speak again.

"Do you know what the worse part was, when Joshua passed?"

Frank gave Emily a look that silently asked what she wanted and Frank hoped that this wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be.

"I had to clear out his locker in the hospital… and that's when I found a little black box containing a simple but elegant engagement ring. He was planning on proposing to me that night. That was why he wanted me to take off early because he had it all planned out. Apparently he made fancy dinner reservations and with the desert, the topper was going to be that engagement ring…"

"That day, when I found that ring… I made a vow to him that I wouldn't try to seek anything out from anyone. That I owed him for not saving his life… That his death was on me…"

"Doc… his death wasn't on you… you have to know that…" Frank approached Emily and rubbed his hands against her shoulders trying to comfort her.

"Frank…"

"No, I'm telling you that it isn't your fault. Doc… you never killed your father, brother, or boyfriend…"

"Frank…"

"I am so sorry that this shit had to happen to you… but do you hear me? You did not kill your family…"

"FRANK!" Emily yelled at him in order to get him to stop talking.

Emily clenched her fists as the tears started to flow from her eyes.

"Frank… the worse part of everything is that I finally made peace with what happened… I finally accepted the facts when I found that ring. However, the day I met you… all of that changed…"

Emily tried to wipe away her tears but gave up when the attempt was futile. Instead she let them flow as she looked into Frank's concerned brown eyes.

"I realized that I didn't want to be alone anymore… I didn't want to live in constant heartbreak and pain… Frank… I found out that I am so deeply in love with you… I love you so much Frank Castle… and that scares me because I have never loved someone as much as I have come to love you… And I don't want something to happen to you because I am afraid that if anything happened to you, that would be the end of me… I love you Frank Castle… I love you so much that every time I am around you, I wish time would stop just so I could be in your presence forever… I love you…"

Emily took a deep breath and watched Frank's face contort from a worried expression to something that resembled fear. She watched as Frank dropped his hands from her arms and started to back away.

"Frank… please say something…"

"Doc… I…"

Emily watched as panic took over Frank's features. In that moment she felt her heart move up to her throat as she saw Frank start to walk away from her.

"Doc… I'm sorry… I can't… I don't love you back… I can't let you fall for someone like me… I already took it too far… I'm sorry…"

Emily watched as Frank turned and ran off the roof of the building. The first and last time she truly gave herself to another person and he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. Emily let herself fall to her knees and she clutched her hand to her heart and screamed. She couldn't believe that she told someone everything and they left her—Frank left her broken and humiliated as she kneeled there on the cold ground, crying her heart out.


	23. Chapter 22

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Some lines were taken from the movie "American Sniper" and I paraphrased said lines. However, I feel that citation is still needed. But as promised, here is the other chapter I owed you guys, so the next update will be this upcoming Friday! Also, I know this is a short chapter but it needs to be here since it explains what our two love birds are going through at this moment. Not only that, but, this chapter sets up the next couple of chapters. Without further adieu, here is the next chapter!**

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 **Lucy: I feel like a lot of people feel the same as you do... don't worry you will probably want to kill Frank even more after this chapter. **

**Katie R.: Oh I know, Frank pulled a total a**hole of a move on Emily. Just wait until you read this chapter and you may want to hate on Frank even more. **

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Emily didn't know how long she was on that roof top. All she could do was clutch her hand to her heart and wail; making ugly, heart-wrenching sounds that sounded inhumane. She was enveloped by pain and darkness. She had told him everything and she scared him off. She was too damaged for anyone to feel the same about her.

She thought that if someone like Frank, who had a whole closet of skeletons big and small, couldn't love her than why would anyone be able to love her? She felt like a buffoon, a moron, for trusting Frank and letting him in to the deepest parts of her heart. She tried to let him in and all it got her was pain and misery.

Emily felt the cold seep into her bones and realized that she was still wearing Frank's leather jacket. The leather all of a sudden felt like a flame licking at her back. It was uncomfortable and Emily could smell the warm ginger radiate off of the jacket indicating Frank's musk. Hiccuping, and in a fit of rage, she ripped off the jacket and threw it across the roof top.

With the force of the throw, Emily rocked, and fell over slightly onto her butt. She just let the motions happen as she moved her knees up so they almost touched her chest. Emily mind-numbingly gripped her hair in her hands and placed her forehead on her knees. She started to rock back and forth as she screamed. She screamed, and cried, and then screamed some more.

It seemed that everything that she did, it wouldn't lessen the pain. She didn't know what else to do—except cry. She was left broken and alone. She had nothing else to live for and darkness was consuming her. However, the worst part wasn't feeling her soul being ripped out of her body. The worst part of the whole thing was that if anything dangerous or disastrous happened to Frank, she wouldn't be able to live with it. Even though he didn't return her feelings, and left her crippled and abandoned, she would still do anything for him, if it meant keeping him safe. And that thought killed her inside.

She would do anything for Frank, so why wouldn't he do the same?

* * *

Frank did something that he hadn't done since he was a child: run. His father would always tell him that there were three type of people in this world: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. The first kind of people don't want to believe in evil because if they did, well then they wouldn't be able to protect themselves. That, and at the end of the day, they would run away instead of facing their fears because they didn't know how to fight back and they were the sheep of the world.

Then, there were the wolves. Predatory type people who use violence to get what they want. People who take from others without a second thought. Lastly, there are the people who are born with the desire to protect and defend those who cannot protect themselves. These type of people are made to confront the wolf and stand up to them. They are the sheepdogs—the ones who were fiercely loyal and protective. The ones that would stop at nothing to protect the ones that they loved.

Frank had always tried to be a sheepdog, especially when it came to his family. Growing up he lived by this motto and it was actually the thing that drove him into the military. However, when his family was gunned down in front of him, he turned to being a wolf. He would gun down anyone in the way, even if it didn't help him find the answers he was looking for when he was trying to avenge his family's death.

Yet, he was blessed with meeting Emily. Maybe it was God's way of telling him that he was straying off his path and it was time to give up the wolf and become a sheepdog again—in order to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. He had this overwhelming urge to protect Emily, no matter what. However, this fierce protection and loyalty led him to becoming a sheep; something that Frank thought he never would become.

When Emily told him that she loved him, he should have told her the truth. He should have made peace with his feelings in that moment, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. When he heard those three words, images of his late family's dead bodies flashed through his mind. Then, those flashes suddenly turned into those of Frank holding Emily's lifeless body covered in warm, thick blood because he wasn't able to save her.

He thought that instead of admitting his feelings not only to her, but to himself, he could spare both of them—that by not coming to terms with his emotions, it made Emily safer. But as Frank ran, the more he realized that he had made a mistake. A mistake that would cost him everything.

Frank was running from roof top to roof top until he slowed his pace down to a crawl and eventually a stop. He looked around and saw the lights of New York city all around him and everything just felt hallow—like there was nothing that could take away the emptiness that was left when he walked away from Emily.

Frank ran a hand back and forth on his head and walked over to the ledge of the building and looked around him. He placed both of his hands on his head in an exasperated way and cursed himself. Damn him and his weakness. Damn him to hell because he had lost the best thing in his life.

Falling to his knees, Frank watched the cars pass by as if nothing had changed in the past twenty minutes. He felt small and weak, all because he was too scared and too worried to let himself feel anything for anyone. And he hurt the one person in this world that mattered to him. Without knowing it, a few tears had escaped from the corners of his eyes, as they softly ran down his cheeks.

He had lost the best thing that had happened to him since his family passed away. He had lost the one thing that could save his soul from damnation. Frank yelled into the wind with tears streaming down his face, and at that moment, he came to a realization. He loved Emily—and he left her broken because he was bastard. He left her when she bared everything to him… Everything that made him love her even more, but he threw it all away because he was too afraid to come to terms that he returned her same feelings. Those feelings that he loved her with every part of his being.

He lost it all because he was a damn fool. He had lost the most important thing to him—and he had no idea if there was going to ever be anything that he could do to make it up to the woman he loved. He fucked up and he knew deep down that Emily would never forgive him for it and this was the thought that broke Frank. The thought that he never knew how much he loved her until he left her—until it was too late. And now that he did know, he regretted the decision of leaving her because he all he wanted to do was tell her the truth.

The truth that he shared the same feelings for her—that he loved her just as much as she loved him—if not more.


	24. Chapter 23

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 23**

 **AHHHHHH! I am so sorry I am updating on a Saturday! Winter Break is hitting me with the laziness and I thought I had more time to edit this chapter than I actually did.**

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 ** _Note:_ I replied to a review a few chapters ago and the user's name got cut off and I felt bad, so the correct username to the response belongs to  alessia. winchester88**

 **Katie R.: Don't worry, I want Frank to get his ass handed to him as well, but all in good time...**

 **Anonymouswolf: Thank you for your kind words and your review touched my heart, I am so happy that you liked this story as much as you have. I am so sorry that you went through a situation that was like Emily's. Truth be told, to write that part I actually pulled from my own history because something like that also happened to me. I just wanted to let you know that (even if it is an old event) you can always just PM me and I would love to talk with you about any and all problems, no matter how big or small they may seem. That goes for anyone who reads this fic. But, I do apologize for myself getting sappy as well. Thank you again for your wonderful and heart touching review and I hope that the rest of this story provides the same excitement level as did the previous chapters!**

 **Guest: Patience my young padawan... Good things come to those who wait :P**

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It was about a week later and Emily had done nothing since the events that transpired. She wasn't eating, working, talking to Claire—or anyone for that matter. It was just like she simply existed. She had bared her heart and was rejected fully. A part of her always knew that this was all too good to be true, that Frank would do what he did: leave.

Emily rolled over on her bed and resumed her tucked position under the covers. She knew that she probably shouldn't feel this helpless and broken, but she had told him everything… and she was apparently so damaged that even a man like Frank Castle couldn't stand next to her, hold her close, and tell her that he felt the same way about her. That t the end of the day, everything was going to be okay.

The only time Emily did move, was when she needed to tend to Max. Even if she felt like dying and didn't eat, she wasn't going to do that to a helpless animal who depended on her in order to survive. Most of the time, Max would stay with Emily and try to comfort her. Like most dogs, Max had the keen sixth sense of when their owners were feeling bad and they would try anything to make them feel okay again.

Emily knew that Max was trying to stay by her to provide her comfort, but only time and a lot of hard liquor could heal the wound in her heart. She had cried and cried, as much as she could, but it still never changed the issue at hand. Now, she just felt somber and emotionless. She was lost and the only thing to do now, was to watch sad movies and listen to heavy-hearted music. Taking a deep breath, Emily peeked her head out of the covers to reveal an even darker room.

She wiped her puffy cheeks with the back of her hand and sniffled. She felt like there was a hole inside of her heart and there was nothing that could possibly fix it. Emily sat up slowly and tried to get the pounding inside of her head under control. This heartbreak wasn't just making Emily's mental health decline, but also her physical health as well. However, when she sat up she felt the necklace that Frank gave her burn on her skin. She knew that she should probably take it off, but there was something that made her keep it on, even though he abandoned her.

Taking a deep breath, she decided that it may be time to try to eat something simple. She didn't remember the last time she ate something and figured that it wouldn't hurt to eat small. Her body was officially breaking down on her, as she felt the world spin around her. Sighing, and pushing her frizzy, dirty hair away from her face, Emily caught a greasy strand of her hair in her hand and rolled it in-between her fingers. She figured that she should probably take a shower too, while she was up and about.

Rolling her head to side to side trying to dissipate the spinning feeling of the room, Emily carefully swung her legs over the bed and stood up, testing her balance. Rubbing her fingers against her temples, Emily walked out of her dark room and into lightless kitchen. She absentmindedly grabbed a chicken noodle soup can, opened it up and tossed the contents into a bowl. She placed the bowl into the microwave and waited for the soup to heat up.

Letting out a deep breath, Emily winced as her headache seemed to be getting worse. However, she didn't want to take anything for it because this pain was welcomed. This pain helped her focus on something new. This pain helped her temporarily forget Frank Castle. Swallowing harshly, Emily decided that she should probably but her dirty dishes that had accumulated in the sink, into the dishwasher.

Picking up each ceramic piece individually, Emily was almost done with loading the machine until it so happened she came across a simple black mug. The simple black mug that Frank always elected to use. The one that Emily gave him the night she told him that she loved him.

Emily hesitantly picked up the mug and rubbed her thumb over the glossy paint. She didn't even feel them, but tears started to run down her face again and her throat started to constrict her breath. She loved that man with everything she had. She loved Frank Castle and gave him her heart. And he left.

Emily bent down over the sink so her forehead touched the counter as she let sobs radiate through her body while ignoring the beeping sound coming from the microwave indicating that the soup was done heating up. Emily clutched a hand over her heart and pulled on her shirt. Never had she felt this much pain in her life—not even when her late boyfriend, brother, or father passed away.

Frank was the one for her and he had left her in a shambling mess. Emily started hiccuping since she was crying so much and she just felt her heartbroken pain distribute throughout her body once again. She felt helpless and defective. All of a sudden Emily bolted up from the sink and tossed the mug against the wall in a seething anger. Her chest rose and fell as the anger vanished as instantly as it had welled up.

"Shit… No…" Emily muttered as she swiftly walked to the broken pieces of the shattered mug.

Crouching down, her eyes blurred as she saw tears fall onto the ceramic pieces. Emily started to half-heartedly pick them up not paying attention to what she was doing, and that's when a sharp piece of ceramic cut her hand in the middle of her palm. Emily let out aloud hiss and instantly let go of the piece.

She looked down and opened her hand revealing deep red liquid pour out of the wound and drip down and onto the floor. Emily looked at the injury and let herself fall the short distance to the ground until she was sitting on her bottom. She scooched over until her back was against the wall and then she leaned her head back against it. She closed her eyes forcing her tears to leave the corner of her eyes.

Emily let her bloody hand rest in her lap as she sat there; letting her agony wash over her again, suffocating her in the darkness of her mind.

* * *

Frank was currently at the diner, in the same exact booth that Emily and him had shared the night she kissed him for the first time. He was thankful that the waitress and cook that were here that night, were currently not scheduled to come in on Tuesdays. Frank sat back in the booth and rubbed his thumb back and forth on the rim of the mug just above the handle.

"Can I get you anything else, Sir?"

Frank looked up from under his ball cap that he had pulled down to shield his face from anyone who may think twice at trying to get a good look at him. The collar of his leather jacket was also pulled up, shielding him even more from the outside world. Not even twenty minutes after he left Emily and came to his own realization, he went back to the rooftop. He couldn't find Emily anywhere, not even in her apartment, but he did come across his jacket on the roof top indicating that Emily had ripped it off of herself. So, he took it as a sign that he was too late as he picked up the jacket and put it back on.

"No thank you, ma'am," Frank quietly responded.

With that the young waitress walked off and left Frank with his thoughts. He couldn't believe what he had done to Emily. She was probably in total disbelief over how he just left. Hearing those words made him bolt. It wasn't her past or anything she told him, it was the fact that she told him that she loved him.

He vowed to never get close enough to anyone ever again because he feared that this would happen. He knew that if he got involved with someone he would screw up or that someone would be after his loved ones given who he was. Frank looked out of the window and saw his beat-up reflection staring back at him.

How could anyone love someone like him? He could understand if it was before all of the shit he had done… but this girl… she loved him even knowing all about the demons he carried around. Frank shook his head and brought the warm liquid to his lips. He knew that he messed up. There was a better way to let her down, and tell her he couldn't be in a relationship with her, than just by leaving her after she spilled her most guarded secrets.

Frank's grip on his mug multiplied tenfold as he knew that he had hurt Emily severely. She handed him her heart and he stepped on it, crushing it into a thousand small pieces. Frank wasn't one of sentiment or emotion, but he felt like there was a bullet size hole in his heart. He let his mind wander and he eventually came to the phrase, "You never know how much you love and need someone until they are gone and it's too late…" traveled through his mind.

He took his cap off slightly to run a hand through his hair before he maneuvered it back to where it once was. Frank cursed himself silently and never noticed when the bench opposite of him squeaked indicating that someone had sat down. It wasn't until the sweet, mild voice spoke, that Frank turned his head.

"Matt said I may find you over on this side of town…"

Frank turned his head slowly and took in the girl with the straight, long, blonde hair.

"No offense ma'am, but the last time you saw me you said that I was dead to you."

Karen looked straight into Frank's dark brown eyes with a sort-of malice indicating that she still couldn't believe what he did all those nights ago.

"So, I have to ask, why ask red where I am?"

Karen shifted her gaze to the window and then back down to her hands, eventually meeting Franks eyes once more.

"I heard the rumors that you were still alive and no matter what happened between the two if us, I needed to make sure that you were still okay…"

"And how is that working out for you?"

"I can tell that physically you're fine, but something else is wrong."

"Yeah? And what am I supposed to say to that shit?" Frank said simply taking another sip of coffee.

"Well, I know that you have been living with that underground doctor, and I have been hearing rumors that she may be back in the game…"

"There is no way in hell that Doc is back in that life… She has lost too much already and I highly doubt she is going back down that road again…" Frank harshly applied.

Karen looked at Frank curiously, noticing how defensive he was getting over the doctor she mentioned. She noticed that maybe that was what Frank was thinking so hard about when she walked in since he never noticed or looked up when she sat down or entered the diner. The journalist in her wanted to crack Frank open like a book for the next part of the story, but she knew better than to press him further.

"I never said that she was, Frank…"

Frank stared daggers at Karen and carefully placed his mug on the table, almost silently.

"Ma'am as much as you seem to care, you need to leave. You need to get the hell out of Hell's Kitchen and never come back…"

"I know everything Frank… I know about the Chinese and the Russians, I know..." Karen lowered her voice to a whisper, "that Matt is daredevil…"

Frank paused and sat back on the seat, making the cushion diffuse air out of its cheap material with a hiss.

"And what do you want me to say? Congrats that you and red finally got through your shit and you're living happily ever fucking after?"

This phrase tweaked a nerve in Karen. She didn't know what Frank was going through right now, but this was the first time that he ever took out his attitude on her—or anything of that matter. There was something going on with this doctor girl that had Frank all riled up and Karen wasn't going to stand there and take this shit when not too long ago it was her in Frank's exact position—at least she thought it was of equal value.

"Goddamnit Frank… I'm trying to help you here if you would let me. It seems to me like that this doctor character is far more important to you than you let on because you are taking out your aggravation on me. Didn't you say to me not too long ago, that the ones that can really hurt you are the ones that are close enough to do it?"

"When—"

"Didn't you also say that you would shoot your own arm off in order to feel anything like that again? To feel someone love you again? To get into your bones and rip out your heart to the point where you are in pure agony?" Karen started to yell at Frank drawing the attention of the cook and waitress that where in the back.

Frank waited to respond, to let Karen cool off. When she took a few deep breaths she looked back at the workers and gave them a hard smile as if to tell them to mind their own business. The waitress and cook eventually stopped caring about what their customers were talking about and went back to their gossip.

"That may have been true when I said it, but things change ma'am. Shit changed and you have to move on…"

Karen looked at Frank with disbelief in her eyes, not believing a word that was being spouted from Frank's mouth.

"That's complete bullshit, and you know it is."

Karen started to get up from the booth given that she couldn't take dealing with Frank anymore. She wouldn't watch him tare his life apart once again, when he had the ability to change it for the better. She came here to find him, to see if he was really alive or not, to make sure that he was okay. Not to get treated like shit and to have him take out his messed up feelings on her; or to listen to him deny what he said to her before. She stood from the booth and turned on her heals walking to the front of the store.

"I love her, Karen."

Frank finally spoke those three little words out loud. It was the first time he had told anyone of his feelings for the doctor and he didn't know what to make of it. This phrase made Karen turn around and look at the man dressed in all black.

"What?" Karen stared at Frank with disbelief and wonder all wrapped up into one.

Karen waited for Frank to take a breath and waited for him to continue.

"I love her, Karen. I love her with every part of my body—my soul. I just… I can't… I'm a fucking bastard… I left her when she told me everything… and I know that I broke her when I left…"

Karen took a deep breath and walked back to the booth, standing by the table, waiting for Frank to look up at her. She didn't know what Frank was rambling on about when he said that this doctor girl told him everything but she wanted to return the favor that Frank gave her went he pointed out how much she loved Matt. When Frank finally looked up at Karen, she could see the sorrow and hurt that resided there.

"Frank I—"

"No, ma'am. This isn't a case to say sorry. I royally fucked up and I will live to regret it, because I didn't realize that I loved her until it was too late…"

Frank took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was getting far too emotional. Not to mention he was spilling his guts out to a woman who probably wanted nothing to do with him given how things ending with the pair of them the last time they met.

"Frank, if you feel this way, it may not be too late…"

"Wha—"

"Please let me finish…" Karen sighed.

Frank looked at her and pressed his lips into a straight line letting Karen finish.

"If you feel this strongly about her, she probably feels the same for you. Who knows… maybe two broken people can make each other whole again…You never know when another chance may be thrown your way. You have a choice you have to make tonight…"

"What choice?"

"The choice to either sit here on your ass and do nothing about your situation and how you feel, or go find this girl and tell her how much she means to you. Tell her how much you fucked up and how you truly do love her. You never know, maybe she will forgive you, but the choice is yours. Stay here and live with the guilt, or go find her and never wonder what-if?"

* * *

 **Hehehehehehehe... Karen to the rescue! What did y'all think about that? Also, a random question, but this fic will be ending sooner, rather than later (yes I know, sadness!), so I was thinking of either making a doctor strange x oc, captian america x oc, or a young magneto x oc fanfiction. Do you guys, the readers, have any opinions on what I should do and out of the three, which would you most likely want to read... if any? Thank you in advance!**


	25. Chapter 24

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 24**

 _ **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER GETS HEATED SO IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH PHYSICAL INTIMACY, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**_

 **Anyway, I don't know if I will be updating again before the holidays, so I wish every one a very happy holiday, whatever you celebrate :) Also, I will let you all know in next chapter what I decide what my next fic will be. I have a pretty good idea what it will be (given everyone's replies) but I want to make sure that is what I want to do before I commit to it. On another note, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! THEY ALL MADE ME SMILE FROM EAR TO EAR!**

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 **Guest: Thank you so much!**

 **Lucy: The time has come my friend... I think you will get all you're expecting and more out of this chapter! And tell me about it, this is my first fic that I have wrote that I actually like and enjoy! So I am going to miss it as much as you all do!**

 **Guest: Aww, Thank you very much :) Next chapter I will inform you as to which one I decide to write first!**

 **Katie R. : Just wait, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this chapter!**

 **Guest: Thank you for your praise! And *wink wink* that is probably the fic I am going with!**

 **Alexandra Rylie: MUHAHAHAHAHA, because I am an evil person deep down... Just wait, shit hits the fan here soon, once again. (I mean what else is new in Frank's and Emily's world?) But this is something that I think will make people cry... I cried while writing it... ANYWAY, I am so glad that my story got you so hooked that you read it all i one night... but just remember that sleep is important... But thank you for the comment, I loved the excitement and ****sporadic-ness** **in it!**

 **Alessia. Winchester88: Hey man, I completely understand being a Cumberbatch fan... I CANNOT WAIT FOR SHERLOCK SEASON FOUR *insert fangirl scream here*. But thank you so much for the praise and I hope that you enjoy this chapter!**

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Emily rolled over underneath her covers, her body not being able to find sleep easily. Her head pounded, not only due to her recent blood loss, but her emotions were finally starting to take a physical toll on her body. Instead of doing something about her deteriorating symptoms, however, she tried wrapping the blanket around her even more.

She thought that maybe, just maybe, if she wrapped the blanket around her tightly enough, it would cut off her air supply. Not only that, but due to how she wrapped herself up, she wouldn't be able to get out of the blankets fast enough and she would surly bring an end to this pain and misery that she was feeling.

However, even though her dark thought process, she knew that she couldn't leave Max behind. If she did pass in the way she was thinking, it would take days, if not weeks for someone to come and find her. Not only that, but it would leave Max to fend for himself. Meaning that they, those who found her cold, dead, body would have no other choice than to throw him in the pound. Also, it doesn't help that Max is a pit bull, so they probably would skip putting him in a shelter altogether; and just put him down just because of his breed.

Emily deeply sighed knowing that she wouldn't be able to take her own life, not only because she would always find some mundane way as to why she couldn't do it, but for the actual fact that she was still too afraid to die. She hated the pain that she was going through and she wanted it to end, but even though she was scared that she would feel like this for the rest of her life, she was more afraid of not having that life to live.

Tears would have escaped Emily's eyes, but she thought that they had all dried up when she cried the rest of them over a broken mug. Emily took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair, causing her to think about the welcome pain of her headache again. However, this time, she felt that maybe, just maybe she could take something for it and it would help her fall asleep.

Sometimes the best thing to do to forget pain is to go to sleep and worry about it later. She knew that it wasn't going anywhere, but at this point she was just numb. Numb to every thought and feeling, besides the physical and heart-breaking pain she had endured.

Taking a deep breath, Emily thought it best if she got up from the bed and took some medicine to dull her headache. However, when she tried sitting up, pain shot through her hand reminding her that she never took care of the cut on her hand. She also noticed that for the first time in about a week, her body was actually calling for her to feed herself some quality food.

Shaking her head slightly, Emily pulled back the covers and sat up. She was accompanied by a dizzying feeling, but it soon subsided. Running a hand down her face, Emily caught a piece of her hair, which she now realized was dirty and greasy. Making a face of disgust, she figured that a shower wouldn't hurt either.

So, she swung her legs off of the bed and stood up, stretching slightly, and made her way to her bathroom. She turned on the shower and let it run as she stripped off her old, smelly, dirty clothes, and left them on the floor. She carefully stuck her undamaged hand in the water to test it and found that it was warm enough for her to get in.

Therefore, she did just that, and once she was in, she felt the warm water pound her back in a massaging rhythm. Emily didn't know why, but the feeling of the water rushing down her body, and finally feeling warm again for the first time in a long time, it made her feel small and crippled. Emily started to have memories of the night she told Frank everything, those memories flashed through her mind again and again as she found herself slinking to the floor of the tub.

She clutched her knees to her chest, making herself assume the fetal position as water rushed over her body. At this point, she couldn't tell if she was crying or if it was just the water from the shower that was rushing down her face.

* * *

Emily ran a hand through her wet hair, creating tangles within it. She had wrapped a piece of gauze around her hand to protect her wound. She knew that she probably should have wrapped it better, but there wasn't any real reason for it. Emily pulled a large hoodie on over her bra, and stepped into some warm leggings.

She just wanted to curl back into bed, but she knew that she should probably clean up the dirty dishes and clothes that were scattered around her apartment before she did. Not only that, but she still needed to take some Tylenol and make herself something simple that she could eat. Emily walked back into her bathroom and opened up her medicine cabinet, finding the bottle that she wanted.

Shaking the contents of the bottle, she realized that she barely had any of the drug left and made a mental note to go get some, the next time she felt like leaving her house; which she knew wasn't going to be for a long time, at this point. Without looking, Emily shook the contents of the bottle out, into her hand. She capped the bottle again and placed it back into her medicine cabinet as she tossed the capsules into her mouth; not bothering with how many she was actually swallowing.

She knew that taking an absurd amount of acetaminophen, the drug in Tylenol, would screw up her liver, but at this point all she wanted to do was feel completely numb. That was all she wanted—not to feel a single damn thing. Sighing, Emily exited her bathroom and proceeded to the kitchen.

She found an old can of soup in her cabinet and quickly filled a bowl with the cold, goopy substance. Tossing the bowl in the microwave, she waited for the liquid to heat up. When the microwaved beeped, indicating that it was done trying to heat up the soup, Emily took the ceramic bowl out of the machine.

Emily found the bowl excruciatingly warm, almost burning her as she set it down on the counter. She picked up a dirty spoon and dunked it into the liquid. She pulled the spoon up trapping some on the soup on the spoon, and placed the substance in her mouth. Rolling her eyes, she realized that she needed to fix her microwave given that it was starting to heat things up unevenly. She knew this because half of her soup was still cold, as the ceramic of the dish was almost ready to burn holes through the fabric of her hoodie.

Emily just stood there in her kitchen taking small sips of her soup trying to not think about anything. It really helped when her medicine finally kicked in and she no longer felt a throbbing pain in her head. The only pain that was left was from the hole in her heart.

* * *

Emily decided that it was as good as time as any to clean up her place. Dirty clothes and dishes littered the place and she never realized that it was such a pig-sty. Thinking back, she didn't ever remember changing her clothes or eating anything and using dishes for the past week so this all struck her as odd. Nevertheless, she was at least in a steady-state of calm at the moment.

So, house chores would probably get done right now. Not to mention that Max would probably appreciate the fact that she had cleaned up, even though he was a dog and didn't know any better. Emily picked up the dirty clothes that had accumulated in her apartment and walked into her room to toss the dirty clothes into the hamper.

Emily walked back out into the living room, and noticed that Max had taken a break from being by her sorrowful self, as she heard him snoring away on his bed in her office. For the first time in a long time, Emily let herself tilt the sides of her mouth up, due to the funny noises that were coming from the dog.

As soon as her lips turned up, they resumed their relaxed, somber position, as Emily proceeded to pick up the dirty dishes she found around her apartment. She proceeded to pick them up, letting her hair fall into her face, never realizing or hearing the window open up behind her.

However, she, never in a million years, would ever expect what happened to her next. She never thought that the man she loved would return. She never thought that he would return the same feelings that she had for him. She never thought that she would see him apologize, or ask for her to forgive him. That she actually had the chance to love again, to get out of this pain, and numbing sensation, and have another reason to live.

"…Doc," a masculine voice sounded behind her.

Emily stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't move or turn around, she didn't know what was happening. It was probably her mind playing tricks on her, making fun of her misery. Because there was no way _he_ would show his face.

"Doc… Please…"

Emily turned around slowly, coming face to face with Frank. She felt as if time had stopped because she didn't believe that he was standing right there in front of her. But it was almost as if time started to speed up just as it had slowed down, because she felt a wave of pure love and anger both take over her system. But of course, anger won out, and Emily started to move towards to the kitchen ignoring Frank.

"Doc, I have something to tell you…"

Emily slammed the dishes down in the sink and marched out into the kitchen and past Frank, but Frank sidestepped and reached out gripping Emily's wrist into his hand, making sure she couldn't move away.

" _Emily_ , Please…"

Emily stood there standing still taking in a gulp of air. In all the time that she had known the man, this was this first time he had used her real name.

"You don't get to do this…" Emily whispered unevenly, her voice betraying her with the emotion that was behind it, replacing the anger she once had with a melancholy tone.

"I am here now Emily… I'm not going to run off again… I am not going to go anywhere—" Frank whispered to the women standing next to him, as he took in that sweet lavender scent he had missed so much.

Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing from this man. Why now? Why did he think that this was a good time to do this? She had finally given up, she had finally let herself be numb from the pain. She wanted to deny everything that he was bringing to the surface, but she couldn't as emotions flooded her system again, returning with a vengeance.

"That's the problem, Frank. How can I trust that you won't run off again, when that was the first ever thing you did? I told you everything about me. I told you all the shit I don't tell anyone… You were the first person in my life who I told everything to... I gave you my heart and you threw me away like I was a piece of trash!"

At this point Emily was now screaming at Frank, letting her tears fall down her face.

"Emily you can—"

"NO FRANK! You don't get to talk… you don't get to say anything!" Emily wailed.

Emily looked up at Frank waiting for him to speak again, to challenge her on her word—but much to her surprise, he didn't. This just angered Emily more.

"You humiliated me Frank! You destroyed everything… I am not angry, I am in pain and you're the one who put me here! You're the one who made me feel like this—heartbroken and alone…"

Emily yanked her wrist out of Franks grasp and stood in front of him getting into his space.

"Emily I never meant to do any of that… I never meant to hurt you...I'm so so sorry… I—"

Emily shoved Frank, hard.

"You! You can't say that to me… not now… Not after you left me in pieces… not after everything you put me through!" Emily sobbed.

Emily pushed Frank again and started to hit his chest with her balled up fists and Frank did nothing to stop her. He deserved all of this, but he just didn't know how to fix it.

"How can you hate me so much… to let me get that close to you without you feeling a damn thing back? How could you let me fall in love with you… God… I'm so fucking stupid…"

Emily manically smiled as tears rolled down her face as she ran both hands through her hair.

"Emily… you're not stupid. Far from it. I know you're not… because I like you too…"

Emily snapped her head back to look at Frank. He "liked" her, what the hell was that supposed to mean? And that was when she did the unthinkable. She slapped Frank Castle across the face so hard that his head whipped around to the other side. Emily was furious and figured that she had every right to slap Frank across the face.

"No Frank! You don't get it… I more than like you… I love you… I love you so much and when you left… you left me even more broken then I already was! Now it is as if there is something missing where you once were… You're my everything, Frank… You're my everything…"

Frank stepped towards Emily, ignoring the throbbing pain in his cheek, as she abruptly took a step back. He knew that she had every right to feel and act like this, but he needed to make himself clear.

"Emily, would you please, just listen to me for a second…"

"Nothing you say, will change anything Frank! Nothing is—"

"Goddamnit Emily! I love you! I love you… I love you… I love you! I was too fucking stupid to figure it out when you told me and I was scared… okay? That's why I ran… I was scared out of my mind that I was going to hurt you… that I was going to lose you… that you would get hurt because of me… I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life. It's you okay? And it will always be you… I love you…"

Emily stopped fighting Frank, when he placed his hands on her shoulders pulling her towards him. She was hurt and frustrated and angry… but the man always knew how to say the right words just when he needed to most.

"Frank I—"

"Emily… I'm sorry. I am so so sorry that I put you through all of this pain and misery… I realized that when I am with you the world feels like it is moving in a certain elegance that it has never moved in before and my life… my life doesn't feel like a waste anymore… It doesn't feel like I am just a pile of shit… I found that there is beauty in life… and that's all because of you Emily…"

"I…Frank… I just—"

"I know, I know. I'm not asking for you to forgive me, or even if you can. I just need you to know that you're not alone in this… That your feelings are returned. Because I fucking love you with every part of my body and soul and I don't think I can go another day without you knowing—"

Emily came close to Frank and ran a hand through his hair, looking into his eyes. This was the moment where she could tell this man that his hope wasn't lost and she still felt the same—or she could hurt him like he hurt her. She closed her eyes and hoped that she wasn't making the worst decision of her life.

"Just… Shut the fuck up, and kiss me already, Frank…"

Frank was a little confused, but almost instantly he complied, and he just did that. Frank pressed his lips down on top of Emily's fervently. Emily placed both of her hands into Frank's hair and arched her back slightly, to indicate that she wanted Frank to play along and kiss her more passionately.

Frank wrapped his arms around Emily's waist to keep the two of them steady, as he carefully started to lead Emily to a wall. She let him take the lead, as she started to work her way to the collar of Franks leather jacket, until she was trying to slip it off of his arms. Frank let go of Emily's waist, and helped her remove the article of clothing until he had finally reached where he wanted to be.

Emily felt her back press up against the wall and let Frank tilt her head to the side in order to expose the soft, tender flesh of her neck. Frank started to nibble up and down on her neck until he found the sweat spot, just above her collarbone. When he bit down and sucked on the spot tenderly, Emily let out a moan that brought him to pure ecstasy.

Not only that, but being so close to Emily, the intoxicating smell of lavender, once again found its way into controlling Frank's actions. He continued to nip at her neck until returning to kissing Emily's plump lips to passionately kiss her once again. He only parted his lips from hers when he felt Emily trying to say something to him.

"Don't think… for a minute… that I… fucking forgive you… Frank Castle…I'm still… so… fucking… angry…" Emily gasped trying to regain control but evidently failing.

Frank blew air out of his nose and let himself smile at Emily's words. He knew he would be getting hell later, but it was worth it. Emily, licked the bottom of Frank's lip as he happily obliged, letting their tongues fight with each other. Until finally, both Emily and Frank had found themselves at the bottom of each other's shirts.

Emily was the first one to make a move, as she ran her hands down Frank's chest, tracing the outline of his muscles through the thin but soft shirt. Without stopping, she helped maneuver his shirt up and over his head, flinging it somewhere in the living room, before returning to kissing him once again with deep passion. Frank had his hands on Emily's hips, but wanted to get even closer to her. He needed to feel her chest pressed against his own. So, Frank did to Emily what she did to him, only moments ago. He carefully pulled the sweatshirt up and over her head.

Too much of his surprise, she wasn't wearing a shirt, and Frank could take in Emily's slender figure. She was beautiful in the moonlight, standing before him in nothing but her flesh toned bra and pants. Emily wrapped an arm around Frank's neck pulling him closer for another round of kisses, until she had him bracing himself, with both hands placed on the wall by her head, boxing her in. She had pressed herself up against him and now was feeling that Frank desired her just as much as she desired him. Emily never noticed through their hot exchange that Frank once again had his hands on her hips. She didn't notice where his hands were until Frank said one simple word.

"Jump."

And without thinking, Emily jumped up, wrapping her legs around Frank's waist while never breaking contact with his lips. Making sure he had a firm hold on Emily's body, so she wouldn't fall, he moved away from the wall and towards the bedroom. Frank pushed open the door, and threw Emily down on the bed, softly.

Frank moved so he was on top of her, making sure to place his weight in his arms that were holding him up above the women, in order to not to crush the her underneath him. He started to nuzzle her ear and biting it slightly, as she ran her nails down Frank's back making Frank's mind go crazy with the contact. He knew that there wasn't much more he could take before he lost himself within her. He wanted her, all of her, right here and now. However, he didn't want to push her because he knew that they two of them still had a lot to fix in their relationship. So, Frank broke away and kissed Emily's neck, whispering into it.

"I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do… But I am afraid that if we go any farther… I won't be able to stop…" Frank said breathlessly, his chest rising and falling as if he was out of breath.

Emily listened to Frank and tried to take a deep breath. She was trying to regain the oxygen that she had lost from intensely kissing Frank. She was happy that at least one of them was thinking through this whole thing because if she had to admit, it wasn't her who was thinking. She was too wrapped up in Frank's body to really care much about anything except trying to get closer to him and absorb his warmth.

Emily took a few more deep breaths and then motioned for Frank to look her in her eyes, as her light blue ones met his dark brown ones. She knew that this probably wasn't the mature way to work through their problems or anything to that nature, but she would be lying to herself if she denied wanting this. She wanted to be close to Frank, to have the ability to forget all of what had happened between them, if only for a few moments. She wanted to make love to the man that still held her heart.

"Then don't stop…"

* * *

 **Finally, It is about time! Hopefully I wrote this scene okay... Half of this chapter apparently didn't save from my first draft so the editing on it was a rough one. Let me know what you thought about Frank and Emily finally getting together! And what do you guys think... is there anything that could tare them apart now that they finally admitted that they love one another? *eyebrow wiggle***

 **Also, Just in case you ignored the top A/N, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season :)**


	26. Chapter 25

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 25**

 _ **Disclaimer: I am not trying to offend anyone with the Russian-English in this... I just didn't know how else to write it and get the same point across!**_

 **Hey Guys! I hope that you had a great holiday, no matter what you celebrate! Also, Happy New Years to everyone as well! As promise, I would let you guys know what I would be writing next, and it is indeed Magneto x OC! *fangirl scream*.**

 **I love Michael Fassbender and everything about him so it was a pretty easy choice... ish. It will loosely (and I do mean loosely) take place over the films "First Class" and "Days of Future Past", so there will be two "installments" of that fic. Also, if anyone was wondering, This story will NOT have a sequel. It will contain an epilogue, but alas, no sequel. Anyway, my next fic is a while away (in terms of me putting it out after this one and actually writing it, and finishing this one, and blah blah blah...) so for now, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

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 **Alexandra Rylie: I am so glad you liked the last chapter :)**

 **Lucy: Don't worry, I'm cruel... but not that cruel lol. I will say this, however; This story gets a whole hell of a lot darker before there is a "light at the end of the tunnel" situation. I am glad that you liked that they finally got together, _got together_.**

 **Katie R.: I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter! And don't worry, It is going to be! I have most of what I want to do with it formulated in my head, I just have to make my outline and start writing it. Writing it will actually be pretty soon, because I have roughly about seven more chapters to write for this fic. (As in it goes into the thirties, chapter wise), and then I'll start on the new one.**

 **Alessia. Winchester88: Aww, thank you so so much for your review! It touched my heart. I am so happy that you have enjoyed "Emily's" character. Thank you again, for the kind words and compliments, I appreciate it so much. I was actually thinking about putting some smut in here... but I tried writing smut and those types of scenes a while back... and realized that I am not good at them at all! So, I am sorry but no smut :( But hopefully you still enjoy this chapter! And again, Thank you so much for your wonderful words :)**

* * *

Emily stirred from her bed as her eyes fluttered open from the light that was shining through her curtains. She blinked away some of the sleep that was still left on her eyes as she started to try to stretch and get up to start the day. However, she was brought back by an arm slug around her waist and her back pressed against a warm chest. Not only that, but her head wasn't laying on her own pillow, she was snuggled against the matching arm of that to the one that was around her waist. That's when the night came flooding back to her. Frank and her bared their souls to each other—in more ways than one.

Blushing slightly, Emily shifted her body and turned over so that she was now looking at Frank's peaceful face. She realized that she never thought that she would ever say that she could see the thought of calm wash over Frank's features, but there it was. Emily also took in how the hair that had started to grow back from Frank's army crew cut, had a few cowlicks in it that made Frank look almost as if he was just some man who had a simple day job and his life was one filled with mundane happiness.

"Like what you see, doc?"

Emily blinked a few times and focused her eyes onto Frank's warm brown ones.

"I'm sorry did I wake you?" Emily whispered while placing a hand on Frank's cheek.

Frank blew air from his nose and responded, "I have actually been up for some time, so no you didn't wake me."

Emily smiled until realization hit her, "Wait, so you have been watching me sleep?"

Frank just smirked at her as he raised his eyebrows confirming that he was. Emily opened her mouth and playfully hit Frank's bare chest. This action not only had no effect on Frank, but it made Emily hyper-aware that both her and Frank barely had any clothes on—if none at all.

Hesitantly taking her hand away from Frank's chest, she started to become nervous. She still didn't forgive Frank for leaving her like he did and she was not in her right mind sleeping with him—in both sense of the word. It was as if Frank knew just what was going through Emily's mind, as he grabbed her hand that just playfully hit him and placed it on his chest. He motioned for Emily to come closer as he settled his head back on the pillow and she placed her head on his chest listening to his rhythmic heartbeat.

Frank threaded his fingers through Emily's hair and played with the strands while whispering tenderly, "I'm not going to leave you again, Emily. I'm in this for the long hall… no matter what happens…"

Frank took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pressing his lips to Emily's forehead. He never thought he would ever have this again. He never thought Emily would take him back, nor love him again. He thought he lost his last chance of having this peaceful and loving life again. He could see himself giving up everything if it meant staying with her. He knew that whatever she wanted, he would try to give her the world and more.

"Earth to Frank, you in there?"

Frank opened his eyes just to see beautiful blue ones staring back at him. Emily had asked him something but he was too lost in thought to notice.

"I was trying to tell you that I still don't forgive you for what you did, even though we both participated in those actions preformed in bed last night…"

Frank watched as Emily blushed, knowing all too well that she wasn't used to being intimate with anyone, since she hadn't been in a long time. Frank couldn't help but smile at the whole thing. He loved the women who was beside him and there wasn't anything he wouldn't give to have these moments last for the rest of his life.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Emily eyed Frank curiously.

"Doc, there are a lot of things I could say but I don't get to decide when you don't feel hurt anymore. Only you get to decided that. So, I will keep repeating it until you are ready. I love you, Emily… and I'm here to stay. I know I screwed up, but I will use every one of my breaths to make you realize that—"

Frank was silenced by a soft kiss to his lips. His eyes fluttered shut as he moved his hand to the nape of Emily's neck. Emily broke off the kiss first and looked into Frank's brown eyes. She didn't know it until now, but somewhere between whispering their confessions of love and being entangled with each other's bodies, she knew that she forgave him.

Emily smiled at the way Frank was looking at her and decided that if the two of them were ever going to leave the bed, she should probably make the first move in trying to do just that. Emily winked at Frank making him return her expression with raised eyebrows. She shifted over to her side of the bed and maneuvered out of the covers exposing her bare flesh.

She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a clean pair of underwear and slipped them on. She was also about to find a shirt to wear, but out of the corner of her eye, something caught her eye. She walked out by the front of the bedroom door, and there lay Frank's shirt. Emily snorted as she felt the fuzzy black material and slipped it on, over her head. She turned around and was met with Frank's ever gazing eye as she watched him trying to see what she was doing. She noted the change of Frank's position on the bed, by how he had his arms behind his head, flexing his biceps as he did so.

"What?" Emily rolled her eyes.

"Come here…" Frank smirked.

Emily followed Frank's directions and came over to him, deciding to straddle him on the bed. Emily placed her hands on Frank's chest and Frank returned the gesture by placing his own on her hips.

"So…. Why did you want me to come over," Emily asked innocently?

"Well, I mean you do know that you look very _attractive_ in my shirt."

Emily looked down at the black t-shirt and smiled knowing where this was probably headed.

"Oh, would you look at that? I didn't even realize that I had your shirt on. I mean it isn't like I share the same black wardrobe or anything."

"Why, aren't you being a little cheeky this morning?" Frank laughed.

Frank suddenly squeezed Emily's hips making her gasp and hen squeal with laughter.

"Frank… stop… stop… tickling me… have… make breakfast… STOP!" Emily giggled uncontrollably, not able to make out a complete, coherent sentence as Frank tickled her mercilessly.

Frank shifted Emily as he was tickling her so he was on top of her. Finally, Frank stopped assaulting Emily and propped himself up beside her. She regained composure after her laughing fit and looked into Frank's warm brown eyes.

Frank took this as an invitation to lean down and press his lips against Emily's. Emily smoothly transitioned her hands into his hair making Frank come closer to her body. Frank placed a hand on her hip to steady himself as he deepened the kiss.

The two eventually came up for air and Frank was about to roll off of Emily until she spoke up and pulled him closer.

"Breakfast can wait…"

* * *

"So honestly, are the pancakes okay?"

Frank looked up from stuffing his face and took in Emily's worried expression which made Frank internally rolled his eyes. He would never understand why women cared so much if someone liked their cooking or not.

"Doc, it's fine. Really."

"Well, I mean fine isn't good… it's… fine."

"Its good Doc."

"Then why don't I believe you?" Emily gave Frank an exacerbated look.

Frank raised his eyebrows at the women across the counter from him to make his point. Emily sighed and rolled her eyes, while smiling slightly. She knew that he would probably eat anything that she made him and tell her that it was good regardless. Emily took her fork into her hand and cut through the fluffy pancakes. She moved her fork so the bit of food was in her mouth as she tested the food herself.

"Verdict?" Frank asked.

"You weren't lying… but it could use some more milk if I'm being honest," Emily smiled and added that in just to spite Frank.

"You're too hard on yourself Doc," Frank laughed knowing all to well what Emily was trying to get at.

Emily looked up from her food only to watch Frank stuff more pancake into his mouth. She thought that he was done with calling her Doc since the whole "I love you, Emily" thing went down last night.

"So, why still call me Doc?" Emily asked quietly, cutting up another bite of pancake for herself.

Frank was about to shovel in another bite but paused when he realized the shift in tone come from Emily. He looked up at her and matched her serious expression.

"I just figured that using Doc would be what we are both used to. Plus, isn't it kinda like a nickname?"

"Well, it would have been a nickname if you called me Emily first."

Frank placed his fork on his plate and laced his fingers together.

"See, if I called you _Emily_ from the start than it wouldn't have the effect on you as it now does."

Frank made a point that Emily never realized before. When he said her name it sent shivers down her spine and she could clearly see all the meaning behind him calling her by her first name. She could see the raw emotion behind his words when he called her Emily.

Emily never responded to his comment and instead decided to stuff her own face with the pancakes instead of admitting that Frank had a point and was right. Emily heard Frank snort and resume eating as well. The two stayed like that for a while, eating in tranquil silence. Emily finished her plate first and kicked open the dishwasher to place her plate in. Once she did so, she grabbed the coffee pot behind her and turned around in order to fill up Frank's mug of coffee.

He looked at her with an appreciative thank you written across his face, as she reached over and grabbed Frank's dirty plate, plashing it in the dishwasher as well. Emily closed the machine and turned it on, blowing her hair out of her face in the process when she stood up.

Emily looked over at Frank as he watched her.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Frank said taking a sip of his coffee as he turned on the seat and got up with his mug in tow.

"You know what."

"I honestly have no idea what you are talking about," Frank said moving into the kitchen to stand next to Emily.

"Fine, don't tell me. Anyway, I actually have something for you…"

Frank simply looked at Emily to lead the way as she gave him a soft smile. She exited the kitchen and rounded the corner to her work room. Sitting in the middle of her work bench was a fairly large box.

"Well, go on it's for you…"

Frank threw Emily a curious look as he placed his mug of coffee on the table and proceeded to open the package. He opened the flaps and came face to face with the last thing he expected to see.

"Melvin sent over the final product I designed. This should help you in those pesky gun fights you always find yourself in. I strengthen the side armor and tried to make it lighter, thinner, and more flexible while I was at it. I mean it won't prevent a straight shot up close, but anything else, and it will have no problem defending against it."

Frank ran his fingers over the coarse, hard plastic. Even after he was such a dick to Emily, she had kept her promise to make sure that he was safe when he was running around hell's kitchen. What he did to deserve this girl, he would never know.

"Soooo…. Do you like it? Is it okay? I tried to make Melvin decorate it like your last one…"

Frank turned around at Emily's words and enveloped her in a hug, without saying anything for a long while.

"Thank you," Frank whispered against Emily's ear.

Emily simply wrapped her arms around Frank's waist and returned the hug. She knew there must have been a million things going through Frank's head at the moment but she did know one thing for sure.

"I know that you want to be with me, Frank; I do, I know that. I know that you love me, but I also know that your work in hell's kitchen isn't done. It won't be done until you stop the Russians and the Chinese from taring this city apart. I want you to know that I will be here for you no matter how long that takes…"

Frank's response was to squeeze Emily harder, pressing her small frame against his, even closer, if that was possible.

"I promise you, Emily. I promise that once I am done here, this is it. I am done. I have what I need; and that's you. This city will always be a part of me, but there is no use in living here if it means being away from you. After I complete my mission here, I will take you anywhere in the world… as long as I am with you, I don't care. I love you."

* * *

"And is that all of it?"

"Yes! That guy was at that bitch's apartment the other night… Now let me go man… That is all I fucking know—"

A loud gunshot sounded through the dark alleyways of hell's kitchen.

"Evgeni, vas 'dat really necessary? You know 'da boss doesn't want to have a large cleanup…"

"Shut the fuck up Dmitrii, no one wants to hear you talk in that fuckin' Russian accent of yours… I was even born and raised in Russia and I don't have the same, horrible accent as you do… No wonder the boss put me in charge and, not to mention, that fuckin' bastard needed to be put in his place. Now, go find his fucking wallet…before I decided to shot you in the fuckin' head too…"

Evgeni motioned with his gun for Dmitrii to grab the deceased man's wallet. Dmitrii didn't say anything to Evgeni's comment and instead leaned down and frisked the man's jacket to find his wallet. When he found the piece of black, chewed leather, he tossed the object up to Evgeni, who caught it with ease. Evgeni flicked the leather wallet open and smirked, causing air to blow through his nose.

"Well, I guess the bastard was telling the truth."

"Yah?"

"This bastard, 'Vinny,' actually did get his ass handed to him by Frank Castle."

Dmitrii gave Evgeni a look that indicated that they now had an important lead; one that would bring them praise from their boss.

"Do you know what this means, Dmitrii?"

"No, Vhat?"

"We get to go pay our friend, Emily, a visit."

"Vhat is most unfortunate… for her, sir…" Dmitrii licked his lips in a perverted way.

"And you know exactly what happens to people who lie to us…especially our friends…" Evgeni smirked.

Evgeni looked at Dmitrii with an evil glint in his eyes, as Dmitrii returned the look back. The events of the future started to unfold before the two of them, as they filled up the alleyway with menacing, evil laughter; knowing all too well about the destructive and heinous acts that were about to be committed towards Emily.


	27. Chapter 26

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 26**

 **Hey guys! Sorry that this update is late. I was traveling back down to university on Friday and then a big ice storm hit and blah blah blah. Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter, seeing as I left you guys on a big cliff hanger last time!**

* * *

 **Alexandra Rylie: I am glad that you still love the story! I hope that you will continue to love it until the very last word :) Thank you for the happy new years and I hope that your start of 2017 has been a good one!**

 **Katie R.: That's what I thought! Now you know that he really loves Emily because of the fact that he is willing to hang up the Punisher outfit. Don't worry, I completely understand wanting to see Frank in plaid... and you never know... I guess you will just have to wait for the ending to see what events unfold or Frank and Emily ;P**

 **Love. Fiction.2016: I am glad that you enjoy this story, Thank you!**

 **Guest: I am glad that you like how I am portraying Frank's character! Don't worry, my heart melted while writing it. Every good story needs a little fluff thrown into it! And you asked for it... here is your next chapter and I hope it is as promising as you wanted it to be. Thank you so much for the compliment and it is my pleasure answering reviews. You guys take the time to write something down to express how much you enjoy this story (also it makes me realize that there is actually someone out there reading this!) and I do truly appreciate every single, last words you guys say to me. It makes my day better when I get a review :)**

* * *

Frank woke up in a jerking motion, as he quickly sat upright. His chest heaved up and down as his body was covered in a sheen of cold sweat. Frank ran a hand through his hair and down his face until he calmed himself. He looked over to see Emily sleeping beside him with an angelic look on her face. He softly smiled at the image in front of him, trying to sear the memory into his mind so he could always remember what she looked like sleeping next to him. It had been over two weeks since she had given him his armor and shared an intimate setting, but he was given a second chance with her and he wasn't going to let a moment of it go to waste.

Frank traced Emily's outline with his eyes, as he was careful not to disturb her. He knew that she hardly got any rest, so when she did, he wanted to make sure that he wasn't the one who was going to disrupt it. Frank carefully maneuvered Emily's arm off of his waist without waking her up and got up from the bed.

He made his way to the bathroom and closed the door behind him, trying to shield the light from entering the bedroom. Frank turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face, some of it trickling down his neck and onto his bare chest. For the past few nights he had woken up with an ill feeling filling his stomach. He couldn't place why he was feeling it, but he took it as a premonition of some sort. His gut generally had a good idea about things and he tended to listen to it, given that following this feeling had saved his life on numerous accounts.

Frank stared at the water flowing down the sides of the sink and down the drain, until he snapped his head up to the dirty and cloudy mirror. In that instant, he heard a floor board creek, and he knew it wasn't Emily. He knew because she would have either called out for him, or entered the bathroom to check on him since he wasn't in bed.

He liked that she didn't doubt him or question his motives, especially when he was lost in his dark thoughts in the middle of the night, but there was always a soft spot when she groggily woke up, not finding him next to her. She would always go looking for him and make him come back to bed with her stating that he needed his sleep just as much as she did and if that didn't work, she would say that she needed him next to her because she felt safer that way. Frank knew that she probably thought that the two of them sleeping side-by-side could not only protect them from their physical enemies, but their own internal demons.

Frank flicked off the light and opened the door making sure that it didn't creek to alert the intruder that someone was awake. Frank cast a quick gaze over the Emily's sleeping figure to make sure that she was still okay. Convinced that she was, he quietly grabbed the gun he had on the night stand and flicked the safety off.

He walked over to the door and took a deep breath, not knowing what kind of situation would be waiting for him on the other side. Frank shifted the door open, so it didn't make a sound as he advanced into the living room. Just as Frank took two steps out of the door, he saw a hand reach out for his gun, trying to take a hold of it.

* * *

Frank sidestepped and threw himself, shoulder first at the intruder. He knew that the guy wouldn't be able to evade Frank's entire body weight and still wrestle with him for the gun. Frank maintained his steady grip on the gun as the assailant decided that it was more pressing to avoid Frank's rush instead of the obtaining the gun. Frank knew that he needed to twist around in order to target his opponent, so to give him time, Frank used his free hand to maneuver himself with a left-hook, the momentum helping to push him in the direction he needed to be to take out the intruder.

Conversely, to Frank's surprise, his punch was met easily, as his arm that contained his gun was turned sideways, just enough, so his gun tumbled out of his hand and onto the floor. Frank didn't bother to look at the assailant, as he brought his knee up to collide with the inner thigh of the intruder, but this was also blocked with ease.

Frank let out a frustrated breath as he started to block the own assault of punches that were being thrown his way as well. Frank and the man were almost evenly matched in hand to hand combat, but even Frank knew that the man in front of him was no ordinary man, given that he was able to land a few of his punches to Frank's finally healed face.

Grunting from the blows that he was taking, Frank had enough of it and decided to use his forearm, take his opponent off guard, and slam his opponent's back against the wall. Frank had the man cornered between a tight spot and a hard place and wound up to deliver a punch to the man's face.

However, just as Frank was about to hit this man like a nail into wood, the lights flicked on around the two men.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Emily exasperatedly yelled at the two.

When the lights went up, Frank immediately searched for Emily, but given her expression at the moment, he knew that there could only be one person he had pinned against this wall. He turned his head and came face to face with the devil of hell's kitchen.

"Well? Are you two just going to keep standing there, or tell me what this is all about?" Emily said while cocking her hip visibly agitated.

Emily looked between the two, waiting for one of them to cough up the answer to her question.

"Well?"

Frank sighed deeply and backed away from the man in red as he took in Emily's appearance. She was just wearing one of his grey thermal shirts to bed as his shirt hit just above her thighs, and he was thankful that the man he was fighting was blind.

"Well, if it is any consolation, I didn't know it was Frank who was going to be coming out of your bedroom…"

Frank turned his head to look at Matt again, noting the disapproval tone he took with Emily.

"And what of it, Red?" Frank took a fighting stance to match Matt's, challenging the man in red to say something more about the situation so Frank could pick another fight with him.

Matt turned his body so it was like he was looking at Frank as the two of them sized each other up again.

"Okay, okay. Please, just stop this testosterone battle before you break all the furniture in this apartment…" Emily said, walking in the middle of the two men, placing a hand on each of their respective chest.

Both men realized that Emily was in front of them and decided to dial their issues back as to make sure they wouldn't hurt the women in the middle.

"Okay, Red, why on Earth are you here, especially in the middle of the night, when you haven't said a word to me, to _us_ , in weeks?" Emily said while motioning to both her and Frank.

Frank bit his tongue to keep from laughing at Emily scolding Matt. It was like a little chicken trying to squawk at a coyote and a hawk.

"And you, what the hell were you thinking, starting something like this in the apartment? I know that you and Matthew aren't the best of friends, but you can be a little courteous…"

Frank pressed his lips into a thin line, especially since he saw the slight smirk Red made when Emily turned her scolding onto Frank. Knowing all to well that Matt was now thinking what Frank was just moments before.

"Now, what is going on?"

* * *

"I'm surprised she let you go that easily…"

Frank stayed silent as Matt broke the civilized silence between the two. He didn't want to talk to Matt, and in order for him to try and take the hint, Frank flicked up the collar of his leather jacket. Not only did it put a barrier between the two men, but it also stopped the bone-chilling wind from seeping through his skin.

"I mean, I thought you two weren't talking after you broke her heart… But then again, I take it you slept with her and are in some sort of twisted relationship now—"

"Watch it, _Red_ …" Frank warned, while scanning the docks for the Sal's father.

"Well, I mean with what you do and how you go about doing it, I thought Emily would be smart enough to stay away from you…"

The muscle in Frank's jaw twitched. Before he left, he promised Emily that he wouldn't harm Matthew, no matter how much he got under his skin.

"Red, be careful what you say, because I still haven't forgiven you for that night in the club, and I would have no issues finishing the fight we started earlier."

Matt stayed silent for a few moments, doing his own scan of the area. He was tipped off earlier tonight, that the leader of the Russian's would be at the docks accepting a very prized and valuable item to help him win the war. So, he paid Emily a visit thinking that he would be able to find Frank. Imagine his surprise when he realized the two were sleeping together.

"One question and I'll drop it," Matt broke the silence once again, looking off into the distance.

" _Red,_ " Frank warned in a threatening tone, while looking through the scope on his assault riffle.

"I'll shut up about everything, I mean you two are consenting adults, just answer me this…"

Frank looked up from his riffle and gave Matt a pissed off look, in which Matt turned his head and returned.

"What?" Frank snapped.

"What happens the day someone decides that you deserve it… deserve to feel the pain that you inflected on them… and they decided to take it out on Emily."

Frank looked at Matt, really looked at him. Frank locked eyes with Matt as seriousness washed over all of Frank's features.

"I'll be damned before I let that happen. I already lost her once before; due to my own selfishness, and I don't plan on losing her again…"

Matt nodded at Frank's statement, as the two shared peaceful silence again. Frank returned to looking through his scope and Matt tried to listen to any activity that was going on, down at the docks. After twenty minutes, the two still were trying to locate any activity that was about to go down and Matt piped up with one more thing.

"What if they put a gun to your head and threaten her life?"

Without looking up, Frank responded with a rigid tone to his voice, "Then they better not fucking miss."

* * *

Emily ran a hand through her hair, as she sat down at the kitchen counter. She plopped down on the stool as Max meandered over to her, pressing his wet nose to her hand. Ever since Frank and her had been sharing a bed, Max decided that the sofa in the living room was now his bed. She was thankful to her dog, that he was so smart to realize that Frank was here for good and Max didn't need to keep watch on Emily's sleeping body anymore.

Max sat down next to Emily's stool as she kept scratching him behind his ears.

"Well, I guess I am up for the day, and I probably should start doing something productive right?" Emily sighed talking to no one in particular, as she got up from her seat and walked into her room to find some pants.

Emily rummaged through her closet and found a pair of black skinny jeans and jumped into them. She left Frank's thermal on, given that it was below freezing outside. Plus, she liked the feeling of Frank's belongings around her when he wasn't physically with her, but she did hike up the shirt and put a quick sports bra on, so that way when she was moving around the apartment she wouldn't feel as sluggish.

Emily walked back out into the kitchen and walked over to the coffee pot and placed coffee beans into the filter. She snapped the top of the coffee pot back into place and waited for the hot liquid to pour into the pot. While waiting, Emily rotated her neck side to side and yawned. She also stretched out her arms in front of her and went through her mental list of what she needed to get done for the day.

Smiling to herself, she didn't realize that since she had been sleeping with Frank next to her at night, her body wasn't used to being up at all hours of the night anymore. She was actually sleeping through the night without vivid nightmares waking her up. She owed it to Frank, because she knew that she probably had fits in the night, waking him up and he tried his best to keep her calm so her PTSD wasn't as bad when she slept.

The coffee started to spout from the maker and Emily watched the brown liquid, but her phone started to vibrate in her pocket taking her out of her thoughts. Reaching into her back pocket she wiped the oil from the screen with her thumb and looked at the message. She didn't have the contact directly placed into her phone, but she knew the number that was messaging her. Reading the message, Emily's heart skipped a beat.

 _Emily, I was going to visit you early this morning, about my radio again, because I figured you would be up at this time of day. However, while I was walking over to your apartment, I saw two big burly men speaking in broken Russian. I figured that they were here to see you, so I wanted to let you know that I will just come over another time._

 _-Mr. Ford_

Emily could feel her throat close, as she ran to her window. She looked down and instantly recognized Evgeni and Dmitrii, who made the motions to conceal a weapon in their jackets. Emily knew that if they were going to come for information, they wouldn't be shielding their weapons, or make a point as to not let her see them. No, they were there for something more: her.

She deduced that they probably got tipped off that someone saw Frank at her residence, and since the pair of Russians wanted to know about his whereabouts earlier, she knew this was their way of retribution since she lied to them about not knowing anything about the man. Emily snapped out of her thoughts and took a deep breath. She needed to hide and make it seem that she wasn't around because she knew that there was no way she would be able to escape.

Emily quickly ran to the light switches and flipped them all off. Then, she coaxed Max to follow her as she shuffled him into the room that Frank used to occupy. She left the light on for Max, since she figured that was what she normally did, and shut the door, trapping him inside. She figured that the dog would be safer if he was out of sight and away when the men broke in. As soon as she had secured Max, she heard a loud knocking on the front door as her mind started to panic.

Without thinking she called the one person who may be able to get to her in time.

 _Ring… ring… ring…_

" _Doc, you okay?"_

At the sound of Frank's voice, Emily throat closed and she couldn't make out a single word.

" _Doc… You there?"_

Emily heard the knocking sound once more and she was thankful she locked both the front door of her office and the door that lead into her apartment.

" _Doc, this isn't funny—"_

"Frank…" Emily whispering as her voice cracked.

" _Doc, you're freaking me out… what's wrong?"_

"Frank… I don't know what to do…"

" _Emily, are you okay? What the hell is happening… Babe I need you to talk to me and tell me what is going on…"_

Emily heard angry Russian being spoken as she stood in the middle of the living room unarmed. She needed to hide but her mind wouldn't focus. These past weeks living in bliss with Frank made her care about the world around her, and her mind wouldn't become numb and think through the situation.

" _EMILY!"_

At the sound of Frank yelling at her through the telephone, it made her shake her head and press down her nervous anxiety and she started talking to Frank in rushed words.

"Frank there are two men here, two Russian men… Evgeni and Dmitrii… trying to break into the apartment… and I don't know what to do…"

Emily held her breath waiting for Frank to respond and she could hear him start to run across the pavement while saying unintelligible curse words.

" _Okay Emily… I need you to go into our bedroom… tell me when you're there…"_

Emily swiftly and quietly ran to their shared room.

"Okay, Okay, I am here, now what?"

" _There is a gun on the nightstand… I need you to grab it and then crawl underneath the bed with it."_

Emily followed Frank's instructions and grabbed the gun from the nightstand and laid down on her stomach. She shimmied underneath the bed, while dust bunnies clung to her shirt and pants.

"I'm here… Frank, I'm scared…"

" _I know babe; I know… Now, I need you to take the safety off of the gun…"_

Emily clicked off the safety and held the gun close to her as sweat rolled off of her forehead. She heard the first door finally being kicked in, and was waiting for the second one.

"Frank… I love you…"

" _None of that shit, Doc. You hear me? Don't start that shit…"_

Emily just nodded her head even though Frank couldn't see her action. She knew that Frank was anxious but was trying to keep it under wraps as to make sure that she wasn't a psychotic mess.

" _Okay… I need you to do one more thing for me…"_

"What is it, Babe?"

" _I need you to fight back. Those men are going to come in and they are going to find you. But I need you to fight them and I will get there as fast as I can… you hear me… I'll find you and I'll keep you safe…"_

Those were the last words Emily heard from Frank as she heard the second door being kicked in. She quickly put the phone on mute as she covered her mouth with her hand to silence her erratic breathing pattern.

* * *

"Now… I know you are home you little bitch…!" Evgeni yelled into the dark living room.

Emily stayed as still as she could, knowing from the sound of the voice that she was right: Evgeni and Dmitrii were really the ones in her apartment right now. She listened as their footsteps walked across the creaky boards in the living room.

"Go check those rooms in the back, Dmitrii. I got this room and the bedroom."

Emily heard the heavy steps of Dmitrii fade while she focused herself on Evgeni. She figured that he was the one who was going to find her as she swallowed harshly waiting for the inevitable.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…. You know what? I'm gonna tell you a little story Emily…"

Emily listened as Evgeni started to flip her furniture. It sounded like he decided to flip the coffee table and evidently the television stand, as she heard the hard crash of the electronic device fall on the hard wood floor.

"Well, your little boyfriend you found yourself decided to protect you one night… and well, your friend, Vinny, was it? Told us everything. Told us how Frank Castle, the big, bad, punisher, fucked him up and was now protecting you…"

Emily heard the door of the bedroom start to creak open as she held her breath. Evgeni walked over to the bathroom and checked for her body in there. She watched his boots pace back and forth around the bed as she heard, and saw, another pair join Evgeni's.

"Evgeni, only 'vat dog is in 'da room… No sign of 'er…"

"Well then, I guess you may have been right, about her not being here…"

"Veally?"

Emily watched as the two pair of boots faded out of her line of vision and she heard the door squeak again, as if someone was pulling it back shut, as if the sound would throw her and make her move from her hiding place.

"Haha, not even close. She is here, I'm just not sure where… Actually, I do know where…"

And with those words, Emily felt a large, callous hand grip her ankle and pull her out into the open from the shelter of the bed.

* * *

Emily felt her body be pulled out from the bed, and tried to flip over so she could shoot her gun when her face appeared out in the open. However, it was too much of a tight fit, under the bed, so she ended up just being dragged out on her stomach. Not only this, but she also let go of the phone which was still on the line with Frank.

"Heh, see, I told you the bitch was here…"

Emily wasn't going to wait for a chat with the two Russians, so when she saw "light" again, she instantly held the gun up and fired three rounds. She didn't know how many rounds where currently in the gun, but she needed to fight these men because wherever they were planning on taking her, was not a place where she wanted to end up.

Unfortunately, Emily missed every one of her shots, but the two men where disoriented enough, for Emily to get back up and dash towards the door. However, just as she was about to round the corner, Dmitrii stuck out his arm and clotheslined Emily. Her body went forward as her head and neck stayed still as Emily found her back suddenly coming into contact with hard surface of the floor. Emily gasped for breath as the two men came to stand next to her, with Evgeni pointing a gun down at her head. With the fall, the gun flew out of Emily's hand and landed somewhere else in the living room.

"Now, please, don't make this hard…" Evgeni sighed.

Emily didn't heed the warning as she felt the stinging sensation in her lungs and she twisted her body around again. This time, sweeping her leg to make harsh contact with Dmitrii's making him fall to the floor next to her. Evgeni pulled the trigger on his gun, trying to make contact with Emily's leg, however, she rolled over and avoided the shot just in time. The hole left from the bullet was meer millimeters from entering her leg.

She quickly got up, and tried to throw a punch towards Evgeni's jaw, but ended up hitting his collarbone, because Dmitrii grabbed ahold of Emily's leg, pulling her back down on the ground with him again. Emily fell to the floor, having her knee hit first, taking the brunt of the force of the fall.

However, Emily's chin ended up hitting the floor as well, and it ricochet off of the floor with the impact, making her teeth clench shut with an audible sound. With the impact of jaw colliding, Emily was lucky that her tongue wasn't in the way because if it was, then she was sure that she would have bit it off.

Once she was on the ground, Emily used her free leg to kick Dmitrii in the face, landing the blow of her heel into his nose, causing it to break. Emily felt Dmitrii let go of her leg and she rolled her body over again, in the nick of time, as Evgeni trying to shoot her in the chest at point blank.

"Fuck this shit, I don't care that the boss wants you alive… Bitch you have had this coming for a long ass time…" Evgeni shouted.

Evgeni tried lining up the shot, but could get a clear one. This gave Emily time as she stood up as quickly as she could. Evidently, Evgeni forgot his gun for the moment and Emily blocked the right hook Evgeni threw to her jaw. She felt the stinging on her forearms from blocking the punch, as she felt another blow come to her left arm, knocking her back against the wall. She clutched the meaty part of her arm as pain started to radiate from it. Evgeni hit her in the arm with the solid gun and she was sure that it was going to leave her with a nasty mark.

Evegni used his right hand to snatch the collar of Emily's thermal she was wearing, causing her to look him in the eyes. However, she did manage to glance over to Dmitrii's body, as she realized that her kick to his face knocked him out cold.

"I am sick and tired of this… Now, you're going to come with us and be the broken and damaged bitch you generally are… or, I'm going to have to use this gun on you…"

Evgeni perversely traced the gun across her face, starting from her temple, ending at the bottom of her bruised chin.

"Now… what is it going to be?"

Emily weighed her chances and stayed silent. She closed her eyes and for the first time in a long time, she prayed for something to save her. Emily opened her eyes and watched Evgeni smirk sadistically at her.

"Well, then, I guess the boss is just gonna have to be pissed at me…"

Emily watched as Evgeni pulled the trigger back slightly, as she waited for her fate. However, the most unusual things happen in the strangest times, as a deep growl erupted from behind Evgeni's back. Evgeni released his finger from the trigger and turned his head to the side to see Max stalking up behind him.

Emily realized that Dmitrii didn't pull the door completely shut, when he was looking for her and Max, hearing the violent action happening in the living room wanted to see if his human was okay.

"Call off your damn dog, bitch… Or so help me… I'll kill it and then you…"

Emily looked between Evgeni and Max, as she started to yell at the top of her lungs, "Attack! Take Hold, Max!, disregarding Evgeni's threat."

It all happened in a blink of an eye as Max launched himself and latched onto Evgeni's arm. Evgeni forgot about Emily momentarily, as he pushed her into the wall trying to get away from the dog attacking him. It made her lose her footing, as she once again fell to the floor all the while hearing the grown man scream his head off like a newborn.

When Emily landed from the fall, she hit the side of her head on the woodwork that protruded from the door. The impact clouded her vision and threw off her equilibrium, but Emily knew that she needed to get out of there. She pushed herself up and stumbled when she got up; feeling the multiple hits to her head finally catch up with her.

Emily looked as Evgeni was still wrestling with Max, and then, it was like everything happened in slow motion before Emily could make her move to get away. Evgeni was able to get ahold of Max's collar and evidently threw the dog off of his body. He bent down and grabbed the gun that was by his feet, the one that Emily had lost when Dmitrii clotheslined her, and cocked back the trigger. Emily was about to make a run for it, but Evgeni managed to also, catch the collar of her shirt and pull her back.

Emily's body went backwards but she managed to catch herself mid-fall as she fell to her knees. Emily felt blood fall down her neck, and eventually, her back from the puncture wounds that Max left with his teeth impaling Evgeni's flesh as she used her hands to try to free herself from Evgeni's death grip that he had on the collar of her shirt. However, it was no use and given where Emily was kneeled, she was able to see the rest of the events unfold during that fateful night as everything rushed together, happening all at once. The slow motion stopped and everything seemed to move in double the time.

She watched as Max reared back and was about to launch himself at Evgeni again, trying to free his human from the bad man's grasp, but in that same moment, Emily watched Evgeni point his gun at Max and pull the trigger. Emily screamed incoherently as she watched Max's body fall and slide on the floor, due to Max's momentum from running towards both her and Evgeni, as he trailed blood behind him, whimpering in pain.

That was the last thing Emily saw or heard, never knowing if Max was able to be saved from the gun shot or not because in that same instant, Evgeni brought the gun down, and around, colliding the handle of it to the back of Emily's head; pistol-whipping her. This action caused her to fall over and black out due to the impact to the back of her skull. _  
_


	28. Chapter 27

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 27**

 **Hey Guys, Sorry that this chapter is up late. University started back up again so I am a little discombobulated until I get back into a routine again... Anyway please enjoy this next installment!**

* * *

 **Lucy: Thank you for the praise, and you will find out Max's fate here in this chapter!**

 **little-red-wolf-5793: Thank you! I am glad you like this story so much! I just got back to university so the update this time was a little longer, I apologize! I hope you like this next chapter!**

 **Love. Fiction.2016: Here is your update :)**

* * *

Frank and Matt watched as men started to appear on the docks. Frank looked through his scope as he realized that the men that had just appeared were just coming outside for a light.

"Are you sure your information is correct?" Frank asked Matt while frustratingly sighing.

"Why, you doubting me?"

"Yes," Frank answered without talking his eyes off of the three men standing around talking while smoking cigarettes.

Matt tipped his head back knowing that there was no use fighting Frank on this matter. Matt took a deep breath and went back searching for peculiar sounds in the night. Frank ignored Matt, as the man in red started to pace back and forth. Frank realized that Matt was not one for stake outs or waiting around. He needed action at all times when he dawned on the suit.

Frank watched as the three men retreated back into the small office, as he fixed his scope so it was more clearly trained on the three men. Frank maneuvered his body to a better snipping position since he was getting sore. He was used to staying in uncomfortable positions while he was in his military training and being a vigilante just asserted his skill set even more.

However, since there wasn't any action for quite some time, Frank took this as an opportunity to move his body around so blood could flow back to the areas that needed it. He stopped looking through the scope to look up at Matt and realized that Matt was watching him. Frank knew that the man wanted to say something to him, making Frank closed his eyes. All he wanted was silence but he knew that he wasn't going to get it with this man around.

"So, are you and Emily really together?"

Frank opened his eyes and returned his gaze through the scope; trying to ignore Matt to the best of his ability; but Frank knew that if he didn't answer the man, then he would just try to pry even farther.

"That isn't any of your business…"

"Well, I mean—"

Matt was cut off by Frank's phone going off. Frank tore his eyes off the scope and reached down into his pants pocket retrieving the phone.

"What the hell, Frank! You brought a phone to this—"

"It's Doc…"

With those few words, Matt cocked his eyebrows at Frank and proceeded to keep quite. Both men knew that if Emily was calling them it had to be important. Frank opened the burner phone and proceeded to speak into the microphone.

"Doc, you okay?"

Frank didn't hear anything from Emily's end after a few moments. This made the hair at the back of his neck stand up as his gut told him that something was very off with this situation

"Doc… You there?"

Again there was no response and at this point, Frank had stood up and now was running a hand through his hair while pacing back and forth on top of one of the shipping containers.

"Doc, this isn't funny—"

" _Frank…"_ Emily answered barely above a whisper cutting Frank off.

Emily responded so quietly that Frank had almost missed her saying his name. Once he heard her voice he instantly stopped pacing.

"Doc, you're freaking me out… what is wrong?" Frank rushed out, careful not to curse to make sure that he was keeping Emily and himself calm.

There was a pause and then Emily responded, a little louder this time. However, her voice was still barely above a whisper.

" _Frank… I don't know what to do…"_

"Emily, are you okay? What the hell is happening… Babe I need you to talk to me and tell me what is going on…"

Frank could hear Emily pause, sucking in a deep breath. It was as if there was dead silence on the phone, but if he had heard right, he could hear faint Russian being spoken in the background on Emily's end. This was it, this was what his gut was trying to tell him when he was having all of those nightmares. The Russians wouldn't be coming to the docks tonight—their mission was to get answers from Emily.

Frank shook with anger towards himself because he should have never left Emily alone tonight. He should have known better than to go out with Matt; he should have known that this was a trick. However, he didn't know why they were going to her. It didn't make any sense that they were there… unless...

"EMILY!" Frank screamed into the phone, making Matt jump and breaking Emily's trance.

Frank had just put two and two together. He should have known that someone, somewhere had seen him with the girl. The Russians must have gotten the intel somewhere and the quickest way to him would be to go find Emily and take it out on her. But, first things first, he needed to make sure that Emily was going to be okay.

" _Frank there are two men here, two Russian men… Evgeni and Dmitrii… trying to break into the apartment… and I don't know what to do…"_

Frank took a deep breath and crouched down picking up his gun, clicking the safety on. He placed the strap attached to the gun on his shoulder and swung the piece of metal so it rested comfortably on his back. Frank never waited for Matt, as he began to jump off the shipping crate and onto the asphalt. Frank jumped down and he miscalculated the landing making a shooting pain run up his ankle, causing him to curse. However, as soon as he touched down, his feet were hitting the pavement again and again, running back to the apartment.

"Okay Emily… I need you to go into our bedroom… tell me when you are there," Frank muttered while running.

" _Okay, Okay, I am here, now what?"_

Without pause, Frank answered, "There is a gun on the nightstand… I need you to grab it and then crawl underneath the bed with it."

Frank turned the corner and went down an alley, noticing for the first time that Matt was running along just behind him. Frank realized that Matt could probably hear everything that Emily was saying, and for the first time, Frank was thankful that Matt was listening in.

" _I'm here… Frank, I'm scared…"_

Frank's heart leapt into his throat as he picked up his pace. He wouldn't let them harm Emily, he would kill them if they touched a single hair on her head…

"I know babe; I know… Now, I need you to take the safety off of the gun…"

Frank could hear a faint clicking noise alerting him that Emily was following his instructions.

" _Frank… I love you…"_

Frank closed his eyes. He didn't want this talk to start because it was like reopening a closed wound for him—it made him think about what would become of her if he failed saving her, like his late family.

"None of that shit, Doc. You hear me? Don't start that shit…" Frank muttered into the phone.

There was a pause and Frank took it that Emily understood what he was saying and where he was coming from.

"Okay… I need you to do one more thing for me…"

And without knowing it, Frank said the one thing that would keep Emily alive.

 _What is it, Babe?"_

Frank charged through every back alley he knew, twisting and turning down open roads trying to make his way back to Emily as fast as he possibly could.

"I need you to fight back. Those men are going to come in and they are going to find you. But I need you to fight them and I will get there as fast as I can… you hear me… I'll find you and I'll keep you safe…"

Just upon finishing his sentence, Frank heard a loud crash come from the other end of the phone meaning that the Russians had officially broken in. Frank kept his phone pressed to his ear hoping for any clues as to who these two men may be. However, Frank quickly realized that Emily must have muted the phone to make it harder for them to find them. He would have smiled knowing that she was taking a smart approach to the situation by silencing the cell phone but the situation was too tense to do much of anything but worry.

* * *

Frank quickly ran through the busted doors of the apartment and came to a screeching halt with Matt on his heels. If Matt wasn't paying attention, then he would have slammed into Frank's back. Matt took a couple of steps back and took in the room. The furniture was thrown about and there was the scent of blood lingering in the air.

Not only was there the scent of blood, but there was splatters of blood on the walls and the floor indicating that both parties fought back. He came this conclusion, not only because he heard Frank tell Emily to fight back, but he could tell that the blood that was in the room belonged to three different people. Not only that, but there were nail scratches in the wood indicating that Emily's dog had helped her out with the men.

Matt blew air out of his nose, knowing that Emily probably did a number on the men that had attacked her. Eventually, Matt snaked his eyes to look into the bedroom and noticed that Emily was dragged out from under the bed, and that was where the whole fight had started. It was almost as if he could picture the whole thing, replying the most probable scenarios in his mind.

However, the most peculiar thing, that brought Matt out of his detective-like train of thought was when Frank fell to his knees. Matt whipped his head over, realizing that Frank had never moved in all this time, and saw what Frank had been staring at.

* * *

Frank fell to his knees when he saw his dog, lying there barely breathing. Emotions flooded into Frank's system and started to overload him. This was the last living being of his late family—and now Max was passing away as well. Images of his late wife and kids flashed through Frank's mind, as Emily's face appeared as well. Frank swallowed hard, as he reached out and pulled Max into his lap.

"You're such a good boy, Max…" Frank whispered choking back a sob.

Frank saw the bullet that had embedded itself where Max's heart was. With every breath that Max took, blood poured from the wound. Frank tried to press down on the wound, to keep it from bleeding, but he knew he was far too late. Looking down at Max's panting face, he realized that there was blood around his mouth and neck.

That was when Frank realized that Max got shot trying to protect Emily. Max must have latched onto one of the men and got shot given that he was giving Emily the upper hand—giving her a chance to run. Max whimpered as Frank realized that he was applying a little too much pressure on Max's wound.

Without knowing it, a few tears had escaped Frank's eyes. His dog was dying and there wasn't anything to do for him now. Frank took an unsteady breath and pulled out his revolver with a silencer on the end of it. He threaded his fingers through Max's hair again and again as the two of them said their goodbyes to each other.

"Thank you Max… Thank you…" Frank whispered, his voice cracking.

Frank waited until Max closed his eyes, as this action indicated to him that Max was ready to pass on. Frank took a deep breath and let it out, holding it, so no oxygen entered his lungs, before his body took over and made him take a quick breath in. He decided that this was the best course of action—because he didn't want Max to suffer more than he already had because he knew that when Max passed on, he would be in a much happier and warmer place.

So, Frank, letting his military training take over, placed the silencer so it was just in front of Max's ear. He placed it on the soft spot of Max's skull, like the soft spot of the temple on humans. Frank took another quick breath and then released that breath quickly, pulling the trigger—ending Max's suffering.


	29. Chapter 28

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 28**

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 **Lucy: Poor Max indeed :/ I had a hard time writing that scene because I am such a dog person myself. **

**Alex: Haha, thank you for the compliment but I apologize for making you sad! But omgosh! That sounds really cool, seeing a potato drop. My friend worked an internship in Idaho and I have always wanted to visit!**

 **Charlie: I lose it too, whenever an animal dies. That is why I can't watch movies that feature dogs as a "main character" because I know that they are going to die in the end of it. Hehe, I am glad that you caught on to that, that he said _our_ room.**

 **Love. Fiction.2016: :/**

* * *

After Frank put down Max, He had picked up Max's body from the living room and went to the park to bury him. He ignored Matt the whole time, never knowing if Matt actually spoke, or went with him to the park or not. Frank had eventually returned to the apartment and he found himself wondering out onto the roof. He didn't know how long he was up there when his thoughts calmed down, but he knew that it was long enough for the cold to penetrate through his jacket and seep into his bones.

Frank figured that Matt was trying to give Frank his space at the moment, but he knew that everything around him was collapsing. First, the apartment that he shared with his lover was broken into and trashed. Then, the love of his life was taken from him, right under his nose. Last, but not least, he had to put down his own dog because the assholes who had shot him in the first place, didn't finish the job and put his dog out of its misery. They had just left Max to suffer.

Exhaling, Frank ran a hand through his hair and ended up popping up the collar of his leather jacket. He knew that he wasn't going to stop until he found the men who did this—and he was going to make them pay. Frank looked out past the horizon and heard light footsteps approaching him, indicating that it was Matt.

"I'm sor—"

"Don't fucking say a word," Frank hoarsely responded, cutting Matt off.

Matt cleared his throat and Frank turned around and faced the man waiting for him to challenge him on what he just said. Matt took a deep breath and proceeded.

"I am though… no one should have to go through this shit and—"

Without warning, Frank charged at Matt, tackling him to the ground. Frank pushed himself up and started to throw punch after punch to Matt's face. Matt was able to block majority of the violence that was thrown his way, but a few of the punches slipped through his defense. This pissed off Matt and so he pressed his hips up and used the momentum to get out from under Frank's brutal onslaught.

Matt quickly scrambled to his feet and saw Frank do the same. Frank put up his hands in a boxing position ready to go at it again with Matt. Matt mimicked the stance, but then dropped his hands in substitution for his words; hoping that his words would diffuse the situation.

"Frank, I know you are in pain right now… I know okay…"

Frank took a few steps forward as Matt matched him and took a few backwards.

"I am not the bad guy here. I'll help you get her back; I promise… You're not the only one here that loves Emily. I will help you get her back, no questions asked."

Matt had apparently said the right words as Frank dropped his fists and tried to take control of his irregular breathing patterned again. Matt took this opportunity to inform Frank that he listened in to the police scanner and the police seemed to have an unusual amount of Russian activity down by one of their shipping warehouses.

Matt proposed that they started there and when he didn't get a response from Frank he decided that Frank would be down in his own time. Matt walked over to the fire escape and started to climb down the stairs until he caught Frank's glance.

"… We need to save her, Red…"

Matt turned his head to the sound of Frank's voice and looked him in the eye.

"I know Frank..." Matt said with all the sincerity that he possessed.

Matt watched Frank turn his head away, as he saw Frank look down at his shoes and scratch his lip.

"We need to save her… Because she is the only family I got left…"

* * *

Emily woke up gasping for air. She tried to sit up, but she performed this action a little too quickly, as she immediately fell back down with blurred vision. All of a sudden, pain started to overwhelm her senses, causing her to just do nothing but lay on her back and pant. The bruises to her head and shoulder were amplified now, since her adrenaline had worn off while she was knocked out.

Taking her time, she propped herself up on her forearms and took it slow. Eventually, she was able to take a sitting position without almost blacking out from the movement. Trying to take deep breaths, not only to calm herself, but because her body felt taxed, she looked around. It seemed like she was in the basement of some building. Upon further notice, she noticed that her ankle had a shackle on it—like she was a prisoner. Granted, that was probably what she was now.

Upon noticing this, it put her in a shock like mode, as she retreated backwards, ignoring the throbbing pains emanating from her body. She shuffled backwards until her back hit a cool cement wall. She curled up in a ball and laid her head onto her forearms, as she felt cold sweat trickle down her back.

Her memories came flooding back, especially the one of seeing Max's limp, bloody, whimpering body on the ground trying to save her. It was her fault and she knew that, but to her better judgment, she knew that Frank was out looking for her. If the Russian's were smart enough to send Dmitrii and Evgeni to come retrieve her, she couldn't imagine what they had in store for Frank and probably Matt. Actually, she could guess, they probably had their best guys going after the two of them—and it was all her fault if either of them got hurt because of her.

Emily unfolded herself from her fetal position, and leaned her head back on the cool cement once again. The cold feeling was a nice comfort given to her heighten anxiety and injuries. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and tried to keep it together. With her luck, they may not notice that she was awake and she could formulate a way to get out of this cell.

Once again, Emily glanced around the dark cell, and realized that escape was futile. She would have to pick the lock on her ankle, then somehow get out of the cell, and then run through the Russian's corridor and get home—if she even had a home to return home to.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep wavering breath. There were only a few things that would happen now. First, the Russians could be using her as bait and kill Frank. Second, they want to use her for her abilities again and use Frank to their advantage. Third, they wanted to kill her because she lied to Dmitrii and Evgeni when they came around asking her questions. Lastly, they were going to kill her and use Frank to aid in their war. There was no solution to where they wouldn't use Frank against her.

"I thought with that man protecting you, that you would be safe…"

An old, croaky voice sounded from one of the dark corners beyond the cell. Emily looked through the metal bars and watched as the figure emerged from the shadows. At first, only his black cane emerged, but slowly and surly the rest of the man appeared.

"Ms. Crawford, I don't think we have seen each other for quite some time…"

Emily sat there in shock, not believing her eyes as to who was standing in front of her.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you…"

Emily batted her eyes and opened and closed her mouth enough times that she could finally speak. She also got to her feet and walked to the bars barricading her in the tiny space, ignoring the pain it caused her body. She placed a hand on the metal and looked at the man.

"I… Yes, I know Mr. Ivanov. It has been a while…"

Emily watched as Sal's father looked even older and sicklier than when his son Joshua passed away. She gulped not knowing what was happening and why she was coming face to face with the leader of the Russians.

"I know this is probably a surprise, and I wish we could have rekindled this relationship at a different time."

Emily watched as the old man titled his head away from her to look at the door, as if he was waiting for someone to barge through it at any moment. That was when Emily put two and two together. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Mr. Ivanov, you wouldn't happen to be able to get me out of here, now… would you?"

Sal's father twisted his head back to look at Emily again, only this time his eyes were filled with tears.

"Emily, I am so so sorry about what happened to my son… I have always liked you and I have wanted you to be a part of this family. However, I am sorry that things have to end the way that they are…"

"Mr. Ivanov, I have no clue what you are saying… I don't understand…"

"But you have to get out of here alive… You have a life with that man… I know that he won't stop until your safe. Just make sure that you have a good and happy life after this. Take that man with you and get as far away as you can from this shit. You are the daughter I have always wanted and I love you like I love my own."

"I am so confused. You know Frank? More importantly, how do you know about my relationship with him? Mr. Ivanov, if you're in trouble I can help you. I can—"

At one moment Emily was talking to the elderly man and then the door flew open. Before Emily could get a good look at the man who tossed open the door, Sal's father looked at Emily and smiled. Right before he was gunned down causing Emily to scream.

* * *

Once the dust cleared, Emily took a few steps back into her cell, as if that would keep her from meeting her maker. Watching the body wade into the dim light from the smoke, she saw no other than Sal. Emily knitted her eyebrows together until everything poured into her mind.

Sal was running everything. He was the Russian's leader—not his father. That was why she got into the club, and how he knew where both Frank and her were when those men attacked her during the night at that club. He also knew about her PSTD and he wanted her to work through it and that was why he sent her to the free clinic, to test to see if her abilities were still present. Emily put a hand over her mouth and hunched over as if she was about to vomit.

"I see that you finally put two and two together, sweetheart," Sal said feigning innocence as he walked up to the metal bars.

Emily couldn't talk. All of this was a set up. All of it—and she fell for it.

"Now, I assume you have some questions for me…"

Emily tried to straighten herself as she just looked at Sal with shock and fear in her eyes.

"I'm gonna take the silence as a yes. So, I'll even be polite and let you ask me any type of question first."

Sal waved his gun around, inspecting it like he was a crazy person. Emily was trying not to hyperventilate from all of the information overload. She never suspected Sal to be someone who could have done this.

"Emily, my patience is running thin. Are you going to ask me a question or not?"

Emily looked at Sal like he had lost his mind, but she already knew that he had.

"Are you fucking crazy?"

"Heh, not the question I was going for, but I mean since I am such a nice guy, I'm going to let you try that one again… This time don't disappoint me. You see what happens to those who do…" Sal said, pointing at the body of his deceased father which now had a pool of blood surrounding it.

"What the hell, Sal? How could you do this? Why in the world would you kill your own father?" Emily looked at Sal frantically, with an increased sense of hatred towards the young man.

"Well, I said only one question but I guess I'll answer them all... I mean, why else would you think I would have done this? I did this because I fucking hated that prick of a man. He only loved my brother, and when you came into the picture, well he loved you more than both his own sons, combined. So, I knew that he would betray me in the end, by trying to help you, so I figured, why not let him say goodbye and kill two birds with one stone?"

"So, let me get this straight, you are doing this because you are jealous that your father never loved you and only loved Joshua?"

Sal raised his eyebrows and then proceeded to laugh at Emily's comment. The hollow sound of Sal's laughter made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"You really think… hahaha… That's amazing. You really think I am that petty that I would care about that kind of shit? That really is a good one… Even from you," Sal continued on laughing at Emily's words making her retreat a little further back in her cell.

Sal eventually wiped the excess water from his eyes after he was done laughing as hard as he did. He looked at the women in his makeshift prison cell and smirked.

"No, the real reason is due to you. You're the one who murdered my brother. The only one in my family who actually meant anything to me. You killed him…"

Emily knew that she would kick herself for this next comment, but her stubborn side always shown through when she never needed it to.

"So what now? You're going to kill me? Is that it?"

Again Sal looked at the women again, as if she had made the funniest joke he had ever heard in his life and doubled over laughing. This made Emily march up to bars and grab Sal by the collar, making him face her.

"Answer me, you bastard."

Sal blinked away the tears of laughter once again and returned Emily's look with a wicked one of his own.

"Of course not, what would be the fun of that?"

"Then why the fuck am I here, Sal?"

"Well that's simple."

"Yeah? How so?"

"Well, I plan to kill your beloved Frank Castle. Right here," Sal gestured to the dirty floor just outside her jail cell, "and I am going to paint the walls with his blood, making you watch. And even after I kill him and you're withering in agony, I'm not going to listen to you plead for death. I'm going to thrust you in to our little turf war with the Chinese and make you do your job that you failed to do all those years ago. You're going to help us win this war and take over Hell's Kitchen and through all of this, you'll be wishing you were dead. Every. Single. Day. Because all of your loved ones will blame you for killing them because that is what you are. A fucking murderer."

Emily let go of Sal's collar and fell to the ground. Sal knew it all. He was anticipating Frank showing up and saving her and that was how he was going to get his revenge. He was going to tell Frank he would kill me and then shoot Frank for her life, never knowing that it was her fault in the first place.

A steady flow of tears fell down Emily's face as she felt defeated. Sal watched her while a malicious smile was painted on his face. He pulled down his shirt from where it rode up when Emily was handling it. Emily knew that Sal was going to kill Frank and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Sir, I hate to interrupt…"

"What is so fucking important that it can't wait? I'm fucking busy here can't you see that?"

Emily turned her face and saw Evgeni's body enter the room. She noticed that he had bruises lining his jaw and cuts on his neck, probably spanning down his arm from where Max bit him. She would have smirked knowing how much damage he took, but given what she was just told, and the fact that her dog probably died trying to save her, it just didn't seem like the time to do so.

"Well?" Sal gestured at Evgeni, while inadvertently pointing the semi-automatic gun at him.

"He is here. They just got here…"

Sal squinted his eyes and then pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch and then smirked.

"They?"

Evgeni simply bobbed his head at the comment implying that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was with the Punisher.

Sal clicked his tongue and then spoke, "Well, he is a little 'head of schedule, but we can make due."

Evgeni nodded and stole a look at Emily who was still crying on the ground. He cracked a small smile knowing that the girl was finally getting what she deserved. So, he decided to torture her a little more himself, by voicing what was unspoken before.

"I also want to bring to your attention that he brought daredevil with him…"

"Heh, well this just keeps getting more interesting now, doesn't it?" Sal said, catching onto what Evgeni was doing.

Sal broke out into a creepy smile that lined his whole face. He looked like the definition of someone who was clinically insane; for being a psychopath. He turned from Evgeni and looked down at Emily.

"Don't you love these games? I think they are so fun. I mean I get to do half the work now by taking out both of them. Between you and me, I was kinda hoping you would have ended up with the masked vigilante, but to each their own. I mean, could this day get any better?"

With that, Sal walked over to Evgeni, as the two of them shared in some mild laughter as if an inside joke between old friends was just made. Emily watched as the door shut behind them and for the first time in her life, she hoped that Frank wouldn't find or rescue her.

* * *

 **So What did you guys think? Did you see Sal being the bad guy after all this time or no?**


	30. Chapter 29

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 29**

 **AHHHHHH! *SCREAMS* Sorry that this chapter is late, I had a really long week last week and I didn't have time to edit this chapter until now . I hope y'all like this chapter because I personally think that it is a really good one... I'm excited for you guys to read it. Again, I apologize for this being late... but better late than never!**

* * *

 **Lucy: Haha, well I am glad I did my job in that you liked Sal! He actually gets pretty crazy in this chapter. And who knows... maybe only some of them will make it out alive... Guess you will have to read to find out!**

 **Love. Fiction.2016: Thanks!**

* * *

If Frank had to admit something, it was that Red could really work wonders when it came to finding people; especially where a lot bad people were assembling. Frank pumped the hand grip of his shot gun and open fired at the men that were pouring out of an ominous looking warehouse on the docks of Hell's Kitchen. The Russian men, and those who were working for them, stormed in front of the pair as Frank held no mercy for those who opposed him; even Matt kept quiet about Frank's murderous ways in fear that Frank may turn that hatred towards him.

The warehouse wasn't where the pair was originally located earlier in the night, it was actually on the other side of the pier, but it was close enough that Frank didn't want to think about it. This was actually the second place they had, well he, had lit up with gunfire and spilled blood. The first actually belonged to the Irish, who, to say the least, were not all too excited to know that he was still alive and well. Especially since he almost singlehandedly dismantled their whole organization.

"You know, I wasn't going to say anything when we saw the Irish, but maybe that was because you weren't on a man hunt to slaughter everyone…"

Frank never responded to Matt's comments, and actually decided to tune him out as the two kept punching through the enemy. Frank only had one thing on his mind, and that was to get to Emily. Frank pumped his shotgun again, letting the rounds out in the men that kept appearing in front of the pair, shattering bits bone and tearing through flesh while blood spilled out of the wounds he inflicted. Nothing else mattered to Frank. Everything else was either gone or taken from him and he would stop at nothing to make sure that he got Emily back alive.

Everything went by in a blank and mindless thought pattern as everything he did was purely physical. Every emotion or thought he had, he turned off. Every pull of the trigger, every body that fell to his feet, none of it phased him. When they took Emily and killed Max, it was like the part of him that still felt anything at all, was taken along with them.

He wouldn't think because only actions would provide outcomes. Frank believed that if he let his mind wander instead of doing something about the situation, then he would fear the worse. He would fear that Emily would be dead and there would be nothing else for him to live for. Frank never thought about what he would do if he found Emily's cold, lifeless body, but one thing was for sure, he would never be the same again if that happened.

The only thing that kept going through his mind was his mantra, and with every life he took, Frank had the tendency to say it out loud; "One batch, two batch, penny and dime..."

But quickly afterwards, he would think of nothing, but he would occasionally recite those words over and over again in his head to keep himself sane; to make sure that he knew what he was fighting for. Frank loved Emily too much for him to ever get back to a place where one would call normal again. She was his last salvation and he wasn't going to let anyone or anything get in the middle of it. Without knowing it, Frank had actually made his way into the compound. He had thrown open the main door and was charging and fighting alongside red, who picked up the slack that Frank either missed, or simply didn't care about.

The pair fought and fought and fought. Matt tried to make some witty banter here and there, but he knew Frank wasn't listening. This was worse than when he was avenging his late family because this time, Frank's girl had the possibility of being alive. And if Matt knew Emily at all, he would assume that she would put up one hell of a fight before she would even think of leaving Frank. Even if Matt thought she was crazy, it was even apparent to him how much she cared and loved Frank Castle—and how much Frank loved her in return.

* * *

"Sir, They are going through our men like they are ragdolls…"

Evgeni spoke to Sal, giving him updates by watching the security cameras. Sal bit his thumb, chewing off the fingernail there.

"Shit. This isn't supposed to happen. I didn't anticipate them getting through those expendable idiots as fast as they did…"

"Heh, those fucking bastards need to be shown that the Russian Mob isn't someplace you can walk into and hope to get out alive…"

"Precisely. This is exactly why I keep you around Evgeni. Sometimes you actually are fucking useful."

The two men shared a moment and then turned back to monitoring the screens.

"So what do you want to do about the punisher and daredevil?" Evgeni asked breaking the silence between the two men.

Sal sat backwards on his chair and laced his fingers together, resting them against his upper lip. After what seemed like ages, which in reality was merely seconds, Sal's face lit up like a Christmas Tree as a plan formulated in his head.

"Sir?" Evgeni looked at Sal, watching his facial features light up.

"Oh, you'll see…"

"I'll see what?" Evgeni said, cocking an eyebrow at his boss.

"Dimitrii… or as I like to call it, Plan B…"

 **====Break**

Frank was on a one-man mission, until he stopped dead in his tracks. A big Russian man stood opposite of Frank cracking his knuckles.

"Heh, I know you, aren't you Evgeni's lackey, Darien or something like that?" Matt sounded from Frank's right side.

Dimitrii titled his head from side to side, producing a cracking sound with each head tilt.

"'Vat is Dimitrii to 'vou. Anyway, I've see 'vou come here to die."

Frank took out his pistol and aimed it directly at Dimitrii. He didn't have time for this shit and was ready to find Emily—if she was even here. Frank pulled the trigger, but at the last minute, Matt pulled his arm over to the side, causing Frank to drop the gun as it fired, and the pair heard the large Russian start to laugh.

Frank looked at Matt as if he was ready to turn his gun on him, but Matt quickly spoke up.

"What the hell were you thinking Frank?"

"…"

"He reeks of gasoline… Not to mention that he wired a bomb up to himself… A spark or hit from a bullet would result him in blowing this whole place up…"

Frank cursed, knowing that he would have to defeat this man by hand-to-hand combat, and knew that it would waste valuable time. However, as he was about to launch himself at the man, Red placed a hand on Frank's shoulder holding him back. This caused Frank to turn back slightly to face the man and look at him.

"I got this Frank. Go find Emily and make sure she is safe. She—We are both counting on you to bring her back. I got him, go find her…"

Frank slowly nodded in response and picked his gun back up, looking at the Russian man once again. The Russian just returned the look with a dirty smile, as Frank turned to the right and jogged off down the corridor leaving Matt and Dimitrii alone.

"'Vou 'velly think 'vat was a good idea, splitting apart? 'Vou do understand 'vat I will kill you?"

Matt grinned at Dimitrii's words knowing just what words to choose in response.

"Out of all the people who told me that they would be the one to kill me… I'm still here aren't I?"

* * *

Frank rounded the corner and left Red to deal with the Russian who corrected his name as Dimitrii. However, it was as if something went from bad to worse. All of a sudden there was no one around. No men running through the corridors trying to fight or kill him. Taking a deep breath, Frank knew that he was walking into a trap.

What that trap was, he had no idea—but he did know one thing, and that was what was going to be held against him if he didn't comply to the Russian's demands. In that moment, that he was walking through the warehouse, he had a feeling that Emily was alive, given that there was a significant reduction of violence directed towards him. He knew that this was all a part of the trap that was set up; to make sure that either Emily or himself would be torched and forced to watch the other being harmed.

Frank made a direct left and looked down the corridor, just over the sight on his pistol. Again, there was no one down the hallway, so he proceeded down it. Eventually the hallway came to a dead end, except there were stairs leading down into the basement of the building. Without thinking, Frank went down the rickety stairs and came to bottom of them.

However, he noticed that all the doors were locked—except one, at the end of the hallway. The lights shown through the open door and illuminated the dirty, underground hallway. Frank took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. He didn't know what he would find in that room, but whatever was about to happen next, wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

Frank pushed open the door, and held his pistol out at the ready. He walked through the door, trying to take in the dim surroundings but before he could, he was assaulted just as quickly as he had placed his foot in the room. Frank put up a block and then used his pistol to thrust the hard metal into the leg of the man attacking him, as well as throwing a punch into his attacker's nose. Frank knew that he fractured or broke the bone's in the man's nose, given that he felt the bones shift in an uncomfortable position against his own flesh. He was about to turn around and pull the trigger on the man, but a simple voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Careful there, _Frank_ , I wouldn't want anything to happen to your sweet, little, doctor here…"

Frank turned around slowly, and took in the sight of Sal holding a gun to Emily's head. He first took in her face, seeing that he had some light bruises surrounding her temple and saw her cheeks stained with tears. This started chipping away at his heart, seeing Emily like that. But he suppressed it and looked around some more, while he still could. He could tell that just recently someone else had died in the room, because there was a sloppy job of cleaning up a lot of blood from the floor—leaving most of it behind.

Frank saw that the room was fairly small, smaller than the room that the Irish had had him in. This lead him to believe that there wouldn't be much fighting room, nor room for error given that he was now battling for Emily's life too. Stealing another look towards his girl, Frank saw that it like they had Emily chained up in a makeshift jail cell, in which they had originally kept her before using her as bait to lure him into the room. It was then that he noticed Emily's trembling figure and how bruises had formed over more of her body, not just her face; knowing full well that not all of them came from the fight she had with the men who invaded her apartment.

Just then, Frank received a hard blow to the back of his knees, as he was forced down onto them. However, as he fell to the ground, his eyes never left Emily even though his slight wince to the pain. Frank took a deep breath and tried to make sense of the situation, starting to figure out an escape plan when out of his peripheral, he realized that Evgeni was the other man that was tasked to keep him in check. The two had actually met a while back, when Frank stormed their main storage facility all those months ago.

"Please… Please… Don't do this…" Emily pleaded, as Frank came back out of his thoughts seeing saw tears roll down Emily's cheeks.

"Shut up, bitch! Your boyfriend and I need to have a little talk here…" Sal screamed into Emily's ear making her shrink away from him.

In that same instant Frank, could see the defiance look in Emily's eyes along with a look of sorrow. Almost as if Emily was saying sorry, like this was all her fault and not his. Frank took a deep breath knowing that his temper couldn't come out to play right now, especially with how Sal was treating her because he couldn't risk Emily's life for being stupid.

"Like hell you do…" Emily muttered under her breath not thinking anyone could here.

"What did I just tell you?!" Sal pulled Emily's hair back making her look up at him with a wince indicating that he did indeed hear her.

This action make Frank feel uneasy as he tried to stand up, fighting the pain in his knees, only to be met with a handgun thrust harshly against his temple. Emily struggled against Sal's grip and knew that she still had time to save Frank and she had to do something quick in order to save his life. As long as he got out of here alive, she could rest in peace.

"Frank…" Emily strained, "You need to get out of here it's a—"

With that remark, Sal backhanded Emily making his pinky ring catch the side of Emily's cheek leaving a nasty gash on the side of her face. Sal then pushed Emily forward so she was now on all fours and proceeded to kick her in her side, causing the sickening sound of ribs cracking from the force to radiate off of the walls of the room. This made Frank see red. To hell with trying to think things through; No one was going to lay a hand on his girl.

Frank started to get up again, and fight back, but Sal just laughed at the man. Evgeni pistol-whipped the back of Frank's head and placed the handgun against the middle of Frank's back this time—instead of his temple. Frank knew this tactic—if he tried anything, a bullet would shatter his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed and he would watch in gut-wrenching pain as they destroyed all that he had left in his world. Sal took this opportunity to walk closer to Frank, leaving Emily's body a heap on the dirty, blood ridden floor; her body fighting hard for each breath with a wheeze coming from each intake, alerting Frank that Emily now had a few broken, or at least fractured, ribs from the kicks that were dealt to her ribcage. If she was lucky, they would just be fractured and not broken, but nonetheless he knew that the pain she felt was a bitch.

"Heh, I wouldn't do that Frankie-boy. You see, I have the one thing you love in this world… And that my friend… is a weakness that even you can't get away from. I mean, just look at you... The big bad punisher… down on his knees… about to beg for me to keep me from hurting his girl…"

Sal waited for Frank to say something, but when there started to be an awkward silence, he started speaking again.

"I mean, look at what this love has gotten you… You can't even fucking fight me because I'll blow her fucking brains out…" Sal said plainly, pointing his gun in every direction as he spoke using his hands, "so you just have to stay on your knees like that and beg like a fucking mutt that no one wants… I mean just look at what happened with your fucking mutt at home… I heard that Evgeni had to shoot that fucking thing in order to get your girl here… and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a clean shot so that bloody mutt suffered… Just like you are now…" Sal started to chuckle at the thought of Frank's beloved things suffering.

Frank looked up at Sal with nothing but hate in his eyes. He knew that Sal was trying to bait him, but everything that came out of his mouth pierced his heart and made Frank want to wail on his ass. However, in that moment, Frank realized that every thought of escape that he had to get both himself and Emily out of this situation, the odds were clearly stacked _greatly_ against them. The odds were that about ninety percent of the time, Emily died in one way or another, and in the other 10% of the time, he was the one to die.

Frank didn't mind those options because he knew that Emily would survive, but he figured two things that would happen to Emily regardless. One, Emily would feel like it was all her fault that he died and he knew that she would blame herself for the rest of his life and he didn't want her to feel guilty about his death to save her. Secondly, with the new trauma to her ribs, Frank didn't know if there was any internal bleeding so even if he got her out if she died, he didn't know how far she could make it without him by her side, rushing her to a hospital. So, Frank decided that there was only one last card to play.

"My life… for hers… As long as you drop her off somewhere to get medical attention… That's what you want, don't you: my life?"

Sal raised his eyebrows and smirked at Frank thinking that his question was a joke that he had never heard before.

"Heh, you don't really care why I am doing this or—"

"I don't give a shit why you are doing this…I only know that you are some messed up motherfucker—"

"Well, aren't you a fun one…" Sal started, voicing over Frank, "I can see why Doc over here likes you…I mean you don't even look shocked that I am the one that is pulling the strings, and not my father…"

Frank was about to respond, but noticed that Emily's form was starting to rise from the ground. He was usually so proud of Emily's resistance to evil, but in this situation, he wanted her to stay down. If she did, they might have forgotten about her and left her alone. Sal realized that Frank wasn't listening to him anymore, and followed the man's gaze to find Emily's body rising from the filthy ground—and this enraged him.

"Goddamn it! Emily, you should know when to fucking stay on the ground like the slut you are…" Sal screamed at the strawberry blonde.

Sal moved away from being in front of Frank, and instead, grabbed onto Emily's collar, making her stand up as she cried out in pain from the sudden movement. Emily tried using her fingers to pry Sal's hands off of herself, to free herself, but her attempts were futile. So, unable to free herself, she was dragged over to where Frank was, and Sal threw her in front of him. Emily landed on the hard ground shrieking, pain clearly written all over her face.

Emily's hair was dirty and caked in blood, not to mention it was disheveled from the day's events. Slowly, as if time was coming to a stop, Emily looked up into Frank's eyes, making Frank's stomach fall into a pit of despair. He wanted to fight back with everything that he had, but he knew that if he did, these men would have no issues pulling the trigger on Emily. He may be able to disable and take on one of them, but by the time he would have done that, the one that was left over would hold Emily as a hostage or kill her in that time. Frank's eyes felt wet as he tried pleading with the girl in front of him because he was killing himself on inside for not being able to do anything but be a sitting duck and watch them harm her.

"So, I'm assuming that you have a few questions for me Frankie-boy…" Sal implied, while waving his gun around in the air, not bothering to point it at Emily or Frank anymore, but Evgeni kept his gun trained on the middle of Frank's back, pushing the metal into Frank's spine.

Frank tore his gaze from Emily's and gave a Sal a death glare, indicating that he wasn't interested in anything that he had to say.

"Ooooo, if looked could kill my boy… I mean that one almost matched the look that sweet, little, Emily gave me when I told her all about my plans…"

"Go to hell, Sal…" Emily spat, turning her head to look at Sal, as she managed to maneuver herself into a sitting position on her knees in front of Frank.

Emily shifted her weight to one of her hips as she sat on the bloodstained floor, to ease her breathing from her ribs that were cracked. In the same instant, Sal closed his eyes, and scratched his nose with the barrel of his gun.

"Emily, please. Let the men in the room talk…" Sal stated blowing hair through his noise as if he was annoyed.

Emily was about to speak once more but stole a glance at Frank. His eyes bore into hers and while he said nothing, Emily could clearly see Frank telling her to shut up.

"Anyway, where were we, Frankie-boy?"

"…"

"Ahh that's right. You see, long story short, Emily here killed my brother. So, I plan to make her watch as I kill you… Then, I am going to force her to help us with this little turf war going on with the Chinese… and when it is all over and she is begging, and I really do mean begging, for me to end her life, I won't. I'm going to keep her locked up down here to think about how not only did she kill her own brother, my brother, but also how she killed her lover as well…"

Frank grunted and was about to stand back up, trying to pick a fight with Evgeni because he was sick and tired of this shit. He knew that he needed to get Emily now, and this was his chance while Evgeni was distracted with his own monologue. But, before tried to pick a fight, he felt a small hand grab his own. His eyes quickly glanced over to Emily as she gave his hand a squeeze, knowing all too well that he was trying to pick a fight to get them out of the situation.

Frank could see all too well what Emily was trying to say to him; it was written across Emily's face, that she also went through different scenarios to get them out; but without any luck. A soft smile found its way onto Emily's face as if she was silently telling frank that if he tried to pick a fight right now, that action would end both of their lives. Both Frank and Emily were lost in the moment as Emily eventually closed her eyes and tried to keep tears from falling down her cheeks. The pair was brought out of the shared moment when Sal groaned in boredom.

"God, this is so boring… See I was thinking that you would put up more of a fight down here. Not to mention that you really don't talk much, Frankie-boy. I mean your guy's relationship must be quite boring…"

Neither Emily or Frank said a word in reply, pissing off Sal. The evil man walked over and stood just behind Emily, making sure to not get too close to Frank. Just in case the man planned on trying something. That was when Sal noticed that Emily had her hand on top of Franks… as if she was preventing Frank from doing anything stupid. This made Sal's blood boil.

Letting his emotions take over, Sal grabbed Emily's collar again, this time at the back of her neck, and started to pull her backwards. Emily gripped at her shirt to keep the material from choking her, as she could clearly hear Frank yell curse words at Sal for hurting her.

"Get your fucking hands off of her!" Frank screamed.

"Yeah? Well maybe you should do something about that… oh wait…" Sal stopped dragging Emily and looked directly at Frank giving him a mocking sneer.

Without breaking eye contact with the punisher, Sal clicked the safety off of his gun and cocked back the hammer of his gun. This caused Frank's heart in his chest stop beating. The man in front of him wanted revenge… but it was more than that. This man was insane… he just wanted to inflict pain onto anyone who may oppose him.

"You see here, Frankie-boy. I was going to kill you off here, but I can see that that may not be the best choice of action. I mean you can barely do anything when I threaten the life of your little girlfriend here… so I guess my plans have changed. I hate to break it to you but—"

Cutting off Evgeni, the sound of an explosion ricocheted throughout the building, causing some of the cement in the room to break and fall off the walls and ceiling. Sal closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Nothing was going according to his plans, and it was seriously pissing him off.

"Well, this changes things once again, Frankie-boy. I guess that I am going to have to go back on what I once said…"

Frank knew that an aggravated mad man was someone not to be messed with. Frank put two and two together, knowing that Red must have accidently set off the bomb that was strapped to that other guy; and knowing Matt, he was on his way to them now—Frank just hoped that he made it here in time to help Emily escape...

The building was starting to crumble even more in the seconds after the explosion took place, clueing in Frank that they didn't have a lot of time to get out without them being crushed by rubble. However, it was as if he was suddenly watching the world around him became silent and slow moving. He turned his head to see what Sal was doing to Emily as he saw her scream his name, repeatedly, as if her heart was breaking. In the moment that he saw Emily scream, his sight of her vanished and was covered by a blacken figure who had moved from behind him, to in front of him, a few feet away.

That was when Frank felt the force of the bullet hit his chest, causing him to fall backward.

* * *

Emily saw Frank's body fall backward with the force of the bullet hitting his chest. Sal had wasted no time, with the commotion of the compound collapsing, to end Frank's life. Sal had given the order and Evgeni killed him… Sal and Evgeni had killed Frank right in front of her. It felt like everything had been taken away from her once and for all. When Frank left her the first time, her heart was broken; but seeing Frank lying there in front of her, not moving in the slightest, made her feel numb.

She couldn't breathe, she didn't think, she just felt—numb; like there was nothing left in this world for her.

"Evgeni, stay here and make sure this fucker is dead. I am going to take doc here and go onto the next phase… I'm going to go deal with those fucking Chinese… I am going to go destroy that old lady…" Sal's voice cut through the air.

"Yes, Sir… I'll finish here and meet up with you later…"

"Don't fucking disappoint me Evgeni…" Sal spat at him.

Emily never felt Sal grab her upper arm and drag her out of the room—or hear the conversation that Sal had with Evgeni. All she could think of was Frank's body before her. Sal was right… she didn't care about anything anymore. Her lover was gone and it was all her fault. Emily found herself being taken from the room as she watched Frank's body become smaller with each forced step she took. She watched as Evgeni disregarded his own firearm and picked up Frank's that was flung over by the jail cell when he first came in. Emily's last glance into the room left her with the sight of Evgeni walking over to Frank's body and standing over it. That was the last view she had of Frank as she heard Evgeni use the pump-action on the shot gun.

Seconds later, she heard that iconic sound ricocheting off of the walls making her gasp for air. Frank Castle was dead—and it was her fault.

* * *

 **Hehehe... I love leaving off at cliff hangers! Did you guys see that coming? Let me know what you think!**


	31. Chapter 30

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 30**

 **First off, I want to say sorry for my "Break" typo From last chapter. I usually have those in there so I know where to place my line breaks on the site.**

 **Secondly, I apologize for updating this bi-weekly! It isn't really on purpose and I feel bad, my life has just become really hectic. I generally re-write the chapters (but I kinda have caught up with the ones I have posted/written) but I edit them before I post them and I just haven't have had a lot of time to do so. Plus, I don't want you guys reading shit. Not only that, but my life is pretty rough with me trying to retake Orgo 2 again...**

 **Anyway, Just a heads up I may or may not (most likely not) update again this Friday, but we will see how much work I have. However, I will NOT be updating next Friday 02/24/2017 because I have an Orgo Test Monday following it, so I need to focus and study for that. However, I should be back on track afterwards. **

* * *

**TheLightningDreamer: Hehe :) Well, I am glad you liked last chapter so much! I am happy that I did my job as an author and kept you in suspense!**

 **Lucy: Lol :P... Yeah you pretty much guessed it correct, like flat out!**

 **Love. Fiction.2016: :P**

* * *

Matt hated fighting men that had a suicidal agenda. This guy—Dmitrii—had enough explosives that were wrapped around his chest to probably take out an entire block of Hell's Kitchen if he positioned himself correctly on the street. Matt had retreated back a few steps since every time he had engaged Dmitrii in combat, Matt had to hold back; hold back his punches so that way he wouldn't accidentally set off the bomb that was attached to the man he was facing.

There was really no way out of this situation, unless Matt could find a way to get Dmitrii to take off the vest and not detonate the explosive. However, based on how this man acted, and the war that was about to spawn between the Russians and Chinese, there was no way Dmitrii would take that vest off.

Matt thought through the situation and looked around the dark corridor. A little while ago he had lost Frank within the maze of the warehouse. He knew that the man could handle himself, but if somehow, someway, he was in a position where Emily would die, Matt knew that Frank wouldn't move a muscle. Frank would rather die than let anything happen to Emily.

Scoping out his situation and surroundings, there wasn't much that could help Matt out. The only advantage that he had was that the cement floor had a thin layer of water on it—almost as if they had flooding the day or morning before. This helped him because he could clearly know what steps Dmitrii was going to take and Matt could easily deflect the punches that came sailing his way.

Not only that, but the water has another significant purpose. If that bomb ever did go off, the impact of it would not be as grand due to the small amount of water that had accumulated to where they were fighting. The water wouldn't act as a catalyst, it would actually help slow down the explosion and hopefully make it less powerful.

"So, why the hell does Mr. Ivanov want you to work for him? I would think that he would already have some big men working for him that didn't have to strap bombs to themselves in a fight…" Matt started to speak, taking his time to distract Dimitrii in order to try to formulate a plan to get the bomb away from Dimitrii.

"Heh…" Dmitrii stood up straight and slightly blew air through his nose in response to Matt's comment.

"Man of few words I can see…" Matt smirked still trying to keep his cool while planning a way for him to win this fight and get out of this mess.

"See 'vat is the point. I get 'va job done because of 'vis… I mean Sal thinks 'vat is good. 'Vat I have something to alvays destroy my enemies."

At the mention of Sal's name, Matt frowned. He didn't understand what Sal, Emily's friend, had anything to do with this. So, Matt foolishly dropped his guard and cautiously walked towards Dmitrii.

"What do you mean by that?"

"By 'vhat?"

"Why does Sal give a shit about you wearing a suicide bombers jacket?"

"Because… Sal is Mr. Ivanov… Especially since he shot him in the head in front of Emily… Old Mr. Ivanov was all sad and Sal killed him. Now Sal is Mr. Ivanov and has a plan for us. A plan that cannot fail…"

Matt's mind was racing a mile a minute, never noticing that Dmitrii's hand was inching towards the detonator that was attached to his jacket. Matt never guessed that it was actually Sal that had a vendetta against Frank. However, the more Matt thought of it, the less it made sense that he wanted revenge on Frank.

That was when a light bulb went off in his head. It was almost as if everything was falling into place as if he had the last piece of the puzzle. Sal was after Frank, originally, and that was all due to Frank being overzealous at one of the warehouses that they owned many months ago. Where Matt just happened to introduce Frank to Emily and the rest is relative history. But something shifted, and Sal isn't after Frank anymore. No, Sal was after Emily… for some unknown reason, he wanted Emily to suffer.

Matt was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a gun going off from the direction in which Frank traveled down. Matt knew that that was never a good sign—especially since it had been so long since he last heard something come from that way. Nevertheless, Matt had his own fight to worry about before he could worry about saving Emily and Frank.

However, he may have been too late, as he turned his head over to look at Dmitrii, who was about to pull out the wire to detonate the bomb on his chest.

"'I'll see 'vou in Hell…" Dmitrii screamed into the dark corridor, pulling the string out from the vest.

Matt paid no attention to what Dmitrii was saying and instead, he listened to the pull of the pin that would ignite the vest. Sucking in a deep breath, Matt dove into the abridging hallway and rolled away from the area that was about to be engulfed with flames.

* * *

Matt laid there on his back, in the hallway that he dove down to seek cover. He barely escaped certain death, as he could tell that parts of his costume was singed off. However, he was lucky in the fact that he could always have it fixed, but he was cutting it close this time. He should have dismantled the bomb somehow when he was going hand-to-hand with Dmitrii instead of getting lost in his thoughts.

Matt rolled over, onto his stomach, and pressed up. He took a standing position and then tested his balance. Not only was he able to get out of the blast zone in the nick of time, but his senses were on hyper drive. The noise caused by the explosion started to disrupt the image that Matt was able to see. This also made his equilibrium be thrown off.

Trying to stumble back down the hallway and into the area in which Dmitrii once was, Matt felt the building start jerking underneath him as if there was an Earthquake. This alerted Matt to the realization that the bomb that went off wasn't just a fail-safe to stop enemies from getting any further in the compound. It was to destroy all of the evidence that was left.

Matt decided that he need to make a choice. He either had to travel down the hallway that Frank once ventured down and hope that Matt could find both, or either, Frank or Emily—and hopefully they were still alive. Or, he could see if the bomb finished the job on Dmitrii.

Matt placed his hand on the wall and tried to maneuver himself down the hallway, but there was no way that he would be able to pull off both things in his state—he could barely walk straight. Matt shook his head and decided that he could deal with anything the Russian's threw at him, at a later date and opted to go fulfill the former choice.

* * *

Frank watched as Sal pulled Emily away from his breathless body. She looked as if she had just seen a ghost, making Frank wonder if this time he really was dead or not. His lungs burned as he lied there on the dirty floor and felt pain blossoming in his side. However, the pain was as if there was a large bruise forming—and not of a gunshot. At this point in his life, he was well accustomed to the types of injuries he received and what they felt like.

Shifting his gaze, he found himself looking down the barrel of the gun that just shot him. Looking past it, Frank saw the person who had pulled the trigger, and all at once, everything came back to him. He watched as Evgeni pulled back the hammer of his pistol once more and take aim at Frank's head, making sure that the deed was done.

However, Frank had something else in mind. Just as Evgeni was about to pull the trigger, Frank ignored the burning sensation in his lungs and launched himself at the Russian man in front of him. Evgeni was surprised by the sudden movement and tried to overcorrect his weight, but the force of Frank's mass tackled him back onto the ground causing the gun to go off.

Frank forced Evgeni down and started punching him before Evgeni had the time to register what was going on. Out of fear, Evgeni placed a week block, consisting of his forearms, up to protect his face from Frank's onslaught, but it was no use. Frank just moved to his opponent's rib cage. This action made Evgeni curl his body from where Frank was hitting him as he felt his bones start to crack.

Frank saw an open opportunity while Evgeni's block was down as he returned to Evgeni's face, breaking his nose causing blood to spurt out everywhere—including onto Frank's face. Frank decided that the man couldn't do much of anything at the moment given his brutal attacks towards the man, so he got up, off of Evgeni, and went searching for the pistol that was flung across the room.

Walking towards the pistol, Frank used his hand to wipe Evgeni's blood from his face, even though Frank had blood pouring out from his cracked knuckles. He was hitting the man so hard, that Frank was sure that once he got Emily back, she would probably tell him that he had some broken bones in his hands; but he could really care less at the moment. The only thing that mattered was learning where Sal took Emily. Sal took Emily away from him and now Frank was pissed—and Evgeni was about to see just how pissed off Frank really was.

Frank picked the gun up off of the ground and opened the barrel to see how many rounds were left in the chamber of the gun. He blew air out of his nose knowing that there was way more bullets than he needed to get the job done. So, Frank turned around and walked back over to were Evgeni was trying to breathe through the pain of his multiple broken bones that Frank had just given him.

Frank leaned back down, bending his knees; just as if a wolf sat back on its haunches looking at its newly caught prey. Frank pulled back the hammer of the gun and used the piece of metal to roughly move Evgeni's chin so he was looking at Frank.

"So, this can go one of two ways. You tell me where that bastard took Doc, and then I kill you…"

"Heh…" Evgeni smirked through the blood in his mouth and spat it at Frank's face making Frank close his eyes quickly in frustration.

Frank felt the warm liquid run down his face until he used the back of his hand to wipe it away. Frank stared down at the man in front of him and let a feral-like growl escape from the back of his throat throwing another punch to Evgeni's nose with his free hand. The force to Evgeni's already broken nose made him cry out in even more pain as fresh blood started to trickle down his face. Evgeni brought his hand up to his nose to try and stop some of the bleeding.

"Or, your second option is I torture the information out of you and then I kill you."

Evgeni internally rolled his eyes. Like he hasn't heard that ultimatum before.

"Good luck getting that information out of me, I mean if you think that I am going to tell you were Sal took that bitch—"

Frank quickly flipped his pistol so he was holding the barrel and brought down the hard piece of metal onto Evgeni's soft abdomen. At the impact, Frank watched Evgeni's body contort in a new way as if his mind was trying to protect his internal organs from another blow.

"Now, what is it going to be?"

Frank stared at Evgeni who seemed to be pondering his options through his pain that was clearly written all over his face—both literally and figuratively. His options as whether to have a swift death or one that was going to be drawn out. However, both Frank and Evgeni looked up at the ceiling when the building started to shake, as pieces of plaster fell down. Frank looked up at the ceiling and realized that he had less time than he thought. This building was going to go down anytime now and he needed this guy to answer him.

Evgeni came to the same realization that the building would become a pile of rubble anytime here, so instead of answering, Evgeni smirked again. All he had to do was stick it out and wait for the building to collapse because he knew that Frank would have to leave before he was covered in tons of concrete if he wanted to save his precious Emily.

Frank caught on to what Evgeni was thinking when he didn't respond. So, Frank grabbed the man's collar and brought him up close to his own face.

"You're going to fucking tell me where he took her…"

"Or what? You'll fucking kill me? This building is about to go down and what makes you think that I am going to talk?"

Frank's lip turned up at the end, as he held the gun up against Evgeni's temple.

"Because if you don't I'll fucking blow your brains out."

With that the two of the stayed there looking at each other until Frank saw someone who he thought he would never see again: Red.

"Frank, what the hell are you doing? We got to get out of here. This building is about to go down any second now…"

Frank looked up to see Red, clutching his side and leaning up against the door way as if he was injured. Frank cursed himself under his breath as he pressed the gun up against the man's head harder. This made Evgeni wince at the cold metal being pressed into his skin.

"Tell me where the fuck she is!" Frank screamed.

"Frank that isn't going to get him to talk. Damn, I mean you already seemed to have beaten him to an inch of his life…"

Frank tuned out Matt and started down Evgeni. Frank decided to drop his elbow and jammed it into Evgeni's inner thigh causing Evgeni to wince in pain. Frank had to do this here and now because of he didn't, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to find Emily.

"Frank we have to leave…"

Ignoring Matt's pleas with him, Frank opened up his palm slightly and jammed it up from Evgeni's knee and into his jaw causing Evgeni to had his head suddenly whip around quickly, causing the tendons in Evgeni's neck to be strained. With the quick change in blood flow, Evgeni not only started to feel nauseous, but light headed as well.

Frank started to shake Evgeni until he realized that the man was starting to lose consciousness. He quickly let go and watched Evgeni's body slump back down onto the dirty ground, eyes lolling back into his head. Frank ran a hand through his hair and got up, and started pacing as the building started to rumble once again.

"The clinic," Evgeni gagged out while choking on his own blood.

Frank stopped pacing and walked over to the man, looking him in the eyes to see if he was lying.

"Sal took Emily to the free clinic he owns… he is trying to get the Chinese to enter in there and bombard them…" Evgeni started to cough up some of his own blood but proceeded again before Frank decided to beat him again, "and he wants Emily to do his dirty work due to her mutant power… he wants to destroy everything and build it back up…"

Frank ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and proceeded to walk out through the door where Matt was. However, at the last moment Evgeni spoke again.

"You ain't goin' be able to get her out of there. Sal has that bitch and he is going to fuck her up—"

Frank turned around looked at the Russian man trying to provoke a reaction from him. So, Frank raised his pistol and fired two shots into the Russian's head. Matt looked over to Frank with a hard look on face.

"What the hell, Frank?"

"He is the one who hurt and took Emily, Red."

"Still, what the hell? I mean you didn't—"

"I already told you, Red. If they were going to put a gun to my head, they better not have had fucking missed…"

* * *

Emily was in a trance like state, not registering when Sal dragged her out of the compound. At one point, it seemed as if she was moving so slow, or her body was just starting to collapse, and Sal threw her over his shoulder to carry her. Eventually, she was thrown into a car and now she found herself in a large room with medical posters hung up on the walls.

She glanced around, everything seemed to have a haze around it, as if her senses weren't picking up information and decoding it for her brain. The sound around her was muffled, but she also thought that maybe Sal was just done yelling at her once he realized that she was lost in her own thoughts without any way of getting out of them.

Evgeni had shot and killed Frank and it was all Emily's fault. She knew that it was all a set up and she could do nothing to save the man that she loved. If she wasn't there, or even in the picture at all, Frank would have been able to fight back—but he couldn't this time. He couldn't fight the Russian's because he was too worried about them killing her. But, Emily knew the truth: Sal wanted her to pay for what happened to his brother.

For as long as she could remember, she had blamed herself, but it was a different story once Frank entered the picture. She could actually see herself moving on and starting a life somewhere with him. But that was all taken away due to her stupidity. She should have never called Sal that fateful night, because if she didn't then Frank wouldn't be dead and she wouldn't be in this mess.

Emily took a deep breath and shook her head from side to side relieving herself from the fog she was in. This time, Emily really looked around the room she was in and realized that it was once the room in which she had performed surgery on the boy who was about to lose his arm. She was in the free clinic that Sal said he once worked at.

"I see that you finally have started to shake some of that shock away and out of your system…"

All of a sudden, a big mass came to stand in front of Emily blocking her view from anything else in the room. A bright light came to shine into her eyes, as she squinted and blinked trying to get away from it.

"Well, it looks like all your brain cells are still there, we just need to make sure you're not going to fucking freak out when I use your abilities here…"

Emily stayed silent as she watched Sal move back over to the desk with a computer on it. Focusing more on the computer screen, it seemed to display all the security cameras, alerting Emily that there were armed guards around every corner. However, that would matter if she was thinking about escaping. Right now, all she wanted to do was to go to bed and never wake up. There was no reason for her to pursue life anymore—Frank wasn't going to be a part of it.

"Really, no fucking comment?" Sal smirked at Emily making her meet her eyes with his own.

"I mean I did have Evgeni kill your poor excuse of a fucking boyfriend. I mean the talk about him was that he could take out gangs on their home turf… But introduce a little pussy in his life… and well, the rest is history…"

Emily watched Sal lick his lips in a perverted way as she winced at the language he was using. Sal started to advance on Emily, as he stood in front of her. He placed a hand on her inner thigh and pushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear. He leaned over and blew hot, disgusting air on her ear as he started whispering to her.

"You'll be begging for death before I'm done with you… I never could see what my brother or that fucking bastard of a boyfriend saw in you… but I'm pretty sure that you would be a fun thing to play with in my free time…"

And that was when Emily almost lost it. Sal used this as the time to stick his tongue out and lick the side of Emily's face, trailing saliva on her skin, eventually placing his lips onto hers. That's when Emily's brain kicked in and bit down on Sal's lip while shoving him backwards, and away from her. However, the movement of pushing Sal away lead to Emily feeling a gross amount of pain due to her ribs as she started to pant in order to catch her breath.

Sal stumbled back and looked up at Emily with an evil glint in his eye. He moved his thumb to his lips and looked down, seeing the blood start to seep out of his broken skin from where Emily had bit him. Sal brought his hand up and Emily flinched away, preparing for the slap that was about to come, but she was saved from a voice calling for Sal through his walkie-talkie.

"Sir… Sir…"

The voice on the talkie was coming in and out, but it was clear enough that it was something urgent. Sal sighed and let his hand fall as he went over to the desk where the talkie was and picked it up.

"What is it? It better be fucking good!"

"Sir… I… Sir… it's him… It's the Punisher… he is here…"

And with those so few words, the line went dead as Sal started screaming into the device, even though there was no one on the other line to hear what he was saying.

"What the fuck? I thought I told Evgeni to finish off that piece of shit!? He was supposed to shoot and kill the bastard so something like this wouldn't fuckin' happen!"

Emily tuned out Sal and focused on what the man on the other side of the line was said. Her heart started to race and beat against her chest. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Emily saw Evgeni shoot Frank and she was sure that he had died… However, that was when she remembered a small conversation that she once held with the man who was about to rescue her.

It was the conversation about how she fixed and improved his new body armor so it would deflect almost everything but a straight shot, even to his sides in which he once was injured. Emily blew air out of her nose and dropped her head, letting her hair fall into her face. A soft smile lined her mouth as she began to feel something that she once thought was lost: **_Hope._**


	32. Chapter 31

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 31**

 **Hey guys! So I am updating today... Yay! Also, if you're wondering about my ORGO test... ehhhh... It didn't go as well as I hoped it would go :/**

 **But anyway... Just letting y'all know that we are almost at the end of this story! Chapter 33 will be the last chapter, plus the epilogue, and I am going to update with both of those together when the time comes.**

 **I am also working on my next fic, which is a young Magneto x OC, and I will post the link to that, in a note after the epilogue, once I update the last chapter of this fic. The title of my new one is " _Cavatina"_ and I hope y'all give it a shot too!**

 **Anyway, without further adieu...**

* * *

 **Love. Fiction.2016: Good, I'm glad :)**

 **Lucy: Hehe, good I'm glad I could resolve that for you!**

 **Insane-romance: (I know you may not be close to reading this chapter, but this is so you know I didn't miss you on the "lower numbered" chapters!) Thank you so much for the reviews, and I am glad you like my OC Emily so much :) I tried to make her a sassy and lovable character so I am happy to know that I did my job correctly!**

* * *

"Do you even know where this place is Frank?"

Frank closed his eyes and stopped in his tracks, massaging his temples. He remembered Emily telling him about going to go help out at a free clinic somewhere in Hell's Kitchen, but for the love of it, he couldn't remember which one, nor the address of the one she volunteered at.

"Frank?" Matt broke Frank's concentration as the two men stood at the corner of a dark alley way looking at each other.

"How the hell am I supposed to know this? She texted me this once and never said anything after it… This was really before we were together…" Frank grumbled under his breath.

The two men still stood there looking at each other trying to figure out which way to go now. Both the Chinese and the Russians seemed to have a lull in their activities of the night and neither man knew what to do in order to locate Emily. Frank's worry started to grow since he knew that the more time they spent actually trying to find this place, the less time that Emily had. He knew that once word broke out that himself and Red had evacuated the building, and survived, the less of a chance Emily had of her life being spared.

"Okay, well let me make a few phone calls to someone who I think may be able to help us…" Matt said under his breath while trailing off.

This peaked Frank's attention as he watched Matt with a curious eye. Matt pulled out his phone and spoke the name clearly, so he could call who he needed to.

"Claire" Matthew said simply to the phone, which started a mechanical beeping indicating to the pair that the phone started dialing the number Matt requested.

Frank smirked knowing that Matt was calling Emily's good friend. Frank disliked Red a lot, but there were times when he was thankful that he had him around. Unlike Matt, Frank didn't have supersonic hearing and was unable to listen to the conversation that Matt was having with Claire, but he could guess as to what she was saying based on Matt's responses.

"Okay, thank you Claire…" Matt said softly and the phone turned black once Matt removed it from his ear.

Matt turned to look at Frank with an indication that he got the direct address as to where they needed to be heading. Frank nodded his head towards the man in red and followed him back through the darkened alleys to go save Emily.

* * *

Through a couple of twists and turns, and about ten minutes later, the two men were standing right outside a store that looked like it sold used and vintage clothing at a discounted price for those who just wanted to go thrift shopping, or those who couldn't afford to spend much on clothing items.

"Are you sure this is the right fucking address, Red?"

"I'm almost certain this is it. I know Claire and she isn't one to lead us astray... You're not the only one hoping for Emily's safe return, Frank…"

Frank sighed deeply and looked forward, trying to get a glimpse of inside of the store through the windows. He knew that both Red and Claire wanted Emily to be safe and to be out of harm's way—but to Frank her life meant so much more than losing a friend. If Emily was killed, it wouldn't be the only life that was lost—he would feel like life had left him as well.

Shaking his head to clear away unwanted thoughts, Frank snorted through his nose and proceeded to enter the small shop. He knew, just by looking at it that it had to be a front of some sort. Whether it was a front for selling drugs, girls, or just plainly hiding the free clinic, he would never know; and at this point he didn't really care. He just wanted answers and fast.

Frank opened the door and was instantly hit with the smell of mildew that generally floated off old and used clothes. The weird thing was, was that no one was around. No costumers or staff, but the door was left open. The sign in front of the door still wasn't flipped over to closed as well. Upon this revelation, Frank's guard went up tenfold as he took out his pistol and flicked off the safety. He wasn't going to take any chances knowing that Emily was so close.

Moving further into the store, both Frank and Matt started to look around. More so Frank, than Matt because Matt was doing what he generally does, and started to listen to the sounds around him to make sense of what was going on.

"Frank, something weird is going on here…" voiced Matt.

Frank internally rolled his eyes and waited for Matt to finish his thought because he already knew that something weird was going on. They were in the right place, and yet they felt as if they couldn't have been more wrong. Frank used his gun to look through the clothes that were hung up on a rack just to make sure that he wasn't missing anything.

"I mean it is way too quiet."

"No shit, Red. What makes you—"

"I'm trying to tell you that someone built a barrier around this store, Frank. These buildings all along this street have basements, however, it is like in this building, it is sound proof somehow, someway."

"So what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"What I am trying to say, is I think that Emily and Sal are directly below us…"

Frank's eyes widened slightly. With everything that has happened in the past few hours it seemed as if common sense had left him completely. Frank internally cursed at himself for not seeing that there was a basement to this place. However, he didn't know if knowing that the girl he loved was just in arms reach was something to rejoice about or something to be nervous about.

Maneuvering through the old clothes, and taking into consideration to what Red had just told him, Frank moved to the check-out table and stood behind the register. He looked down at the dark metal piece and then turned his head directly to the left—and saw what he was looking for.

A subtle white door that could lead nowhere but downstairs. The adjoining buildings made it so it was improbable that it leads to anywhere else but to below their feet. Frank ran his hand through his hair and motioned for Red to follow him. Before making sure Matt knew what he was trying to tell him, Frank moved towards the door and came directly in front of it.

He stood there in front of it, trying to hear if there was anyone beyond the door—but to no luck. The door and the rest of the downstairs was cut off from the rest of the world. Frank took a deep breath, and with Matt at his heels, he pressed down on the door handle and opened the door. Nevertheless, the pair was met with about five men, who all guns pointed at them.

* * *

Emily watched from the exam table, Matt and Frank having guns pointed at them from the top of the stairs. She ignored Sal's curses and she watched the black and white images on the screen. She was so happy that Frank was still alive; so much so that she could cry. But, this wasn't the time or place to do so. Once she was brought back to reality, one where she may have a future with the man who had five guns pointed at him, her body had started to protest in pain.

With every little movement, her rib's alerted her that they needed some serious medical attention—and fast. Not only that, but the bruises around her face and were starting to swell along with the deep tissue injuries in regards to her shoulder. All in all, it was a miracle that she was still up right and not on the floor crying out in pain.

Emily wheezed and tried to suck in enough air to stop her lungs from burning. The only issue was that her ribs were causing her so much discomfort that when she moved to take a breath, her ribs hollered in protest. But, she knew that she needed to do something in order to alert Frank and Matt that she was here and alive.

She thought through endless of possibilities, none of which caused her less pain than she already was in. She knew that if she went through with what she was about to do, Sal would probably break the rest of her unbroken ribs, and break some other bone in her body for retribution. Emily took a deep breath and winced, but slid off the table nonetheless.

She watched as Sal was too busy watching the monitors to pay any attention to her, as she picked up a scalpel off of the surgeons table and approached Sal from behind. She took a deep breath, almost silently, and wound her arm up, behind her, as her other one supported her side. In the last moments before plunging down the scalpel into the base of Sal's neck, Emily saw Frank and Matt charge through the opposing men and down the flight of stairs.

Unfortunate for her, this was the same time as Sal decided to scream and turn around to face her. With his sudden movement and the momentum that she had plunging the scalpel downwards, she couldn't stop her arm from slicing down the side of Sal's face, splitting his eye in two. Sal's other eye dilated in pain as he shoved Emily away from him as she fell to the floor.

She was able to twist around so she fell onto the side that didn't have any broken ribs as she watched blood flow down Sal's face and onto the floor. She watched the man in front of her scream as he cupped his eye in his hand. Emily couldn't think about anything else than the blood that was flowing through his fingers dripping off of him and onto her.

In only a few moments, Emily had Sal's blood dripping down her own face. She never wanted to cause him this much pain—she wasn't that type of person, even after all that he had done to her. However, she needed to escape this horrible kidnapper and there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to try and get into Frank's arms once more.

"YOU STUPID FUCKING BITCH!" Sal roared, trying to find something to not only help his pain, but to cause pain to the woman lying on the floor in front of him.

Emily tried to back up, but to no avail. She used the last of her strength to try and maim Sal in order to break free from him. She looked around for something to defend herself with but, evidently she wasn't quick enough as Sal used his free hand to pick up Emily by her shirt collar.

"You Fucking bitch… I can't believe you did this to me… after I was so nice with allowing you to live…"

Sal backhanded Emily as her head ricocheted to the other side. Tears started to well in her eyes from not only the physical pain, but the emotional pain as well.

"You think that you are going to be able to save him or yourself for that matter? I should just fucking kill you right now!"

Sal twisted his hand to the other side and smacked Emily again. This time, Emily let the tears fall down her face as she had a feeling that Sal was right. There was no way to get out of this mess—especially if she tried doing it alone. So, she ignored whatever Sal was going to say next and did the only thing she could think of doing.

She started to scream through her tears for Frank Castle.

* * *

"Frank!"

Both Matt and Frank's heads whipped around to look down the white, sterile hallway where an ear-piercing screech was coming from. The two men looked at each other and knew that that was where Emily was, there was no doubt about it. However, there was just the slight problem that they weren't just battling the Russians anymore.

Through all the commotion, some of the Chinese had followed the pair and were out for blood and retribution. So, Frank and Matt where trying to make their way through, but to no avail. Frank tried to lunge forward, to make a leap to where Emily was, but it was like he was tossed backwards.

All this fighting was starting to catch up with him as his body was starting to protest against the fatigue and pain he felt. However, he knew that if he pressed just a little more, he could have Emily in his arms again. Frank found himself surrounded in a circle with Matt at his back.

"Red, I need to get over there and get to Doc…"

There was a short silence as each man sized the other up as they all tried to think through their own plans of attack.

"Shoot through the two in front of you Frank, and make sure you don't miss. Run and don't stop until you have Emily in your arms… I have the rest of them."

Usually, Frank was off put by Matt wanting to help him all the time and it was so uncharacteristic of him to actually tell Frank to pull the trigger. Frank smirked and blew air through his nose knowing all too well that Matt probably thought that having Emily around kept Frank more grounded. That was true to an extent—but his dark side came out to play when someone thought it was a good idea to mess with the woman that he loved.

With his lips still turned up at the corners, Frank reached around over his shoulder—like he was about to pat his back. Instead, he laid his hand onto Matt's shoulder and squeezed the flesh and muscle there slightly. Without knowing it, the next thing that Frank said to Matt was something that he never thought he would say to the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

"Thanks," Frank said plainly, as he removed his hand from Matt's shoulder and placed his hand on the pistol that was at his waist.

"Heh, never thought I would ever have heard the big bad punisher tell me thank you… you better not be getting soft here, Frank."

Frank's lips turned up slightly more as he took in Matt's words. However, the situation came back into focus and both men put their guards back up. With that, the two of them went through with their plan, as Frank put a bullet in the two men who stood in front of him and took off running down the hallway where he heard Emily scream his name.

* * *

Sal cursed as he tilted his head away from Emily's screaming form. With this action, he was able to see the security monitors and out of his peripheral vision, he saw Frank Castle running like a mad man to this very room. Sal's breath caught in his throat, as he quickly reached for his gun, which was in the waist band of his pants.

Emily had stopped screaming at this point as she had felt her throat start to grow raw and her voice hoarse. However, just as she had stopped screaming, she felt Sal release her collar as his hand flew up into her hair as he gripped it tightly.

She winced at the unnecessary rough handling, as Sal's half-Italian, half-Russian body maneuvered itself behind her—as if he was using her as a human shield. She felt Sal place a hard, cool piece of metal against her temple, which she assumed to be his gun. At this point her tears slowed and she wondered who Sal was hiding from.

It was either that Frank had managed to get through more of Sal's men, or the Chinese were about to open that door and Emily prayed that it was the former. Taking a deep breath but wincing again, Emily tried to steady her nerves as Sal pulled her body closer to his as the two of them waited for whoever was going to barge through the door.

What seemed like hours later, in which was only a few seconds, the door was kicked in and it was if Emily's prayers had been answered. There was the love of her life standing right in front of her and he didn't look to worse for wear.

Emily locked eyes with Frank as she let her emotions slide down her face in the form of hot tears. The two of them weren't in the clear yet, but if this was the last image that she had of Frank Castle, she was happy that God or whatever force, gave her this opportunity to see the man she loved for the last time.

Frank never took his eyes off of Emily but he pulled his gun out in front of him, trying to get a good aim at Sal. However, he couldn't help but notice that Sal looked like one of his eyes had been slashed and judging by the amount of blood that was now on Emily, from the last time he had seen her, he put two and two together.

"Put that fucking gun down or I'll blow this bitches fucking brains out!"

Frank let his eyes stray from Emily's to look at Sal, directly. He noted that the man probably only had one or two more bullets left in the chamber, given that it was still the same one that he had with him when he was at the warehouse. Frank knew that Sal could have reloaded, but he highly doubted it, with all the commotion caused by moving his operation and dealing with Emily.

Frank returned his gaze back to Emily once more as he saw her wince from the tight hold Sal had of her through her hair.

"Doc… Emily…" Frank said with a steady voice.

With the sound of Frank's voice, Emily tried to turn away from Sal to get a better look at Frank. Sal pulled her hair at the movement, but she managed to look straight into Frank's eyes.

"Emily… do you trust me?"

Without hesitation, Emily nodded her head enough to answer Frank and keep the pain from Sal pulling her hair at bay. With her answer, she instantly saw the deep love that Frank held for her in his eyes, even after all that they went through he still looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered in this world. Even Frank felt the same thing, that it was his fault and he was the one to put her in this situation, but with just a simple tilt of her head, he knew that Emily never doubted him. He could clearly see that she still trusted him even after everything that happened.

"Why the fuck are you talking to her?! I'm the one you should be negotiating with I mean—" Sal interrupted.

Emily struggled to take a breath, in the moment that Sal was getting cocky with Frank. She felt Sal's grip tighten in her hair as she squinted her eyes against the pain that Sal was inflicting. However, even though blurry vision, and the pain that she was constantly in, it didn't go unnoticed by her that two distinct gunshots went off and filled the room with a harsh, loud sound.


	33. Chapter 32

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 32**

 **So I just wrote the last chapter and the epilogue for this story and I swear there are tears in my eyes. I'm excited that this story is coming to a close, but at the same time, I am really sad because I loved writing and sharing this with you all so much. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, before we come to our conclusion!**

* * *

 **Love. Fiction.2016: :3**

 **Lucy: I'm glad that you are excited for the Magneto fic! I have currently finished the entire outline for that story and I'm going to try and write up some of the first couple of chapters here soon! Anyway, you will just have to wait and see what happens to our beloved Frank and Emily...**

 **Insane-romance:** **I am so glad you like the sassy-ness and all of the characters in this story :)**

* * *

Emily felt the grip in her hair loosen as Sal's body fell. However, since his hand was so entangled in her hair, she started to fall with the deceased body; but, before her knees touched the ground, Frank ran over and caught her. In that instant, Emily was surrounded by Frank's usual musk that felt all too familiar.

In the moment that Sal decided to speak to Frank to try and get his attention, Frank put two bullets into Sal's forehead, double tapping him to make sure that the deed was done. Frank knew that Sal would be distracted after Frank asked Emily to trust him, so he took the opportunity. Then, once Frank had shot Sal, he saw his body start to fall to the ground taking Emily's small frame with him.

So, He rushed over and caught her before her knees touched the ground and maneuvered her away from Sal's body before checking her out. Frank wasn't going to let himself rest until he could believe that this wasn't all a dream, and he could get the two of them out of this place. However, before he could do any off that, Emily placed a hand on his cheek making him glance down at her tender blue eyes and the façade was shattered.

"Is it… is it really you Frank?"

"Emily, I'm right here… I am alive… I'm right here…"

That was all the confirmation that Emily needed before she launched herself into Franks chest, hugging him around the torso as if she wasn't going to let go, despite the discomfort her body was giving her. She felt Frank bend over slightly to wrap his own arms around her and this caused Emily to truly believe that maybe she and Frank were in the clear for the first time in their lives.

Emily let loose and let her emotions go, as she cried and gripped onto Frank's chest. Frank pulled her close, trying to wrap his leather jacket around the both of them, trying to shield them from the outside world. Frank nuzzled his nose in the hair on top of Emily's head, and even through all the dirt, sweat, and blood there was a small trace of lavender filling his nostrils.

He would never know why he met this woman that he was holding right now, but he wanted to thank every God and Deity ever known for letting him get to her in time and for giving him the chance to love someone again. Not only that, but for them to have complete and utter faith in him even when they shouldn't have any hope at all.

Emily sniffled bringing Frank out of his trance as he watched Emily tilt her head back and place her chin on his chest and what she did next, would always surprise him for the rest of his life. Emily gave him the warmest and loving smile she had ever given him and Frank could feel his heart beat against the inside of his chest.

"Heh, I probably look pretty ugly right now… With snot and tears running down my face. Not to mention all the blood and dirt as well…" Emily chuckled through her tears.

Frank didn't have any words for her at the moment, so he just tucked a piece of her lose hair behind her ear and looked deeply into her eyes.

"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, Emily. No matter what, you are always impeccably beautiful to me."

Emily blushed slightly at Frank's words and was about to say something smart and funny back at him, but instead she closed her mouth and nuzzled Frank's chest again. Frank closed his eyes and took a deep breath, memorizing the feeling of having Emily in his arms once more.

"I love you, Frank Castle…" Emily muffled, speaking into Frank's chest.

Frank deeply sighed at hearing those soft words spoken by Emily. He knew that after the events that unfolded today, he would cherish them for as long as he lived.

"Emily…" Frank said, getting Emily's attention as she took a step away from Frank to give the two of them space to talk as the held each other.

"I love you too"

With those words, Frank crashed his lips down on Emily's and felt her wrap her arms around his neck as he maneuvered his own to be around her waist in order to support her. The two stood there a while, engaged in a passionate kiss, until Frank felt Emily wince and try to gasp for air, only to fail and start panting.

Frank quickly helped Emily catch her breath as he was brought back into reality about the situation that they were in and how much Emily needed medical attention.

"Doc, I know that you are in pain, but we got to get you out of here."

Emily nodded her head, "Okay, let's go then…"

Emily took hold of Frank's hand as he swiftly pushed the door back open and noticed that almost all the men there had been knocked out, curtesy of Matt. However, just as they neared the middle of the hallway, Frank felt Emily's hand start slipping from his own as her heavy breathing returned.

Frank turned around to see Emily clutching her side, indicating to Frank that the wound delivered to her ribcage had been worse than he thought.

"Emily…"

"I'm… Okay… Let's keep going Frank…" Emily wheezed taking short, small breaths.

As much as Frank loved this independent side of her, he knew that they didn't have time for this because there was one thing that struck him as odd: Red was nowhere to be found. So, Frank decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Babe, I gotta carry you, okay?"

Emily just looked up weakly at Frank, about to say something in protest but before she could, Frank bent down and placed an arm under her knees as he steadied her back with his other arm—carrying her bridal style.

She would have been more embarrassed by this if she wasn't so tired and in so much pain, however, right now this is what needed to be done for the two of them to get out of this place quickly and efficiently. However, as Frank picked up the pace, she wondered would happen if the wrong person jumped out at them, because Frank clearly had his hands full.

"Frank… what is going to happen if one of Sal's guys or the Chinese come trying to pick a fight… You can't fight back if you are carrying me… So I think you should put me down—"

"That's not going to happen, Doc. I'll figure it out if it comes to that, but let's just worry about one thing at a time. I mean first, not only do we have to find a way out of here… but we gotta find Red here as well…"

Emily frowned at Frank as if he had two heads. If Matt came with him and he couldn't find him now, then Matt was probably still in battle, he was caught, or he was dead.

"Frank… You brought Matt with you?"

Frank heard the subtle shift of worry weave its way into Emily's voice as he ran to hide behind one of the corners and peer off to make sure that the door leading to the exit wasn't being blocked by anyone.

"Well, he was with me at the time and I thought he could handle himself… But first we need to get you out of here and to safety… Somewhere where they can treat you and then I will go back out and look for him—"

"Frank, we need to find him first… I can wait," Emily winced, letting any act of strength go with her words.

Frank knew that if they left now, then Matt would surely be doomed to a fate of death and as much as he hated the man, he helped him find Emily and for that, he could never repay him. On the other hand, Emily needed immediate attention because he knew that she was starting to fade fast. He wasn't a doctor like her, so he didn't know what was going on, but he could tell based on her facial expressions that the pain she was feeling was something serious.

Frank licked his lips as he made the quick decision for the two of them.

"I'm going to get you some place safe and out of harm's way and then come back for Red. Please don't argue with me…" Frank pleaded slightly with the women in his arms.

Emily looked at Frank and nodded her head knowing that over the course of the past few hours, Matt and Frank had a messed-up friendship that was starting to form, so she knew it wasn't an easy decision for him.

"Okay," Emily smiled softly at Frank and he nodded to her in response.

Frank made sure that the coast was all clear as the two of them made it to the end of the white hallway, that had splatters of blood on the walls. Frank got to the door that was labeled exit and pushed the metal bar with his foot, forcing the door to swing open.

He took a few steps out into the night, letting his eyes readjust and realized that the two of them weren't out of the clear yet.

"Hey Frank, long time no see" Matt sounded, holding his arms up as Frank moved to stand next to him.

Both Emily and Frank looked outwards to see why Matt had his hands up and they saw that the Chinese had about fifteen trained automatics on them. The two of them couldn't seem to catch a break.

* * *

Matt looked over to see Emily's weak and panting body in Frank's arms after he spoke to Frank. He noticed that she was not doing too well and they needed to get her someplace where she could be looked at. It concerned Matt that her breathing pattern was so sharp and she had blood all over her face, hair, and clothes.

He took a deep breath trying to figure out the best possible way to get the three of them out of the situation at hand, but there was no good option. They had to comply with the Chinese, this time, unless a miracle presented itself and they could all get away in one piece.

Frank knew that when they walked out through that door, something absurd like this would happen. He had a feeling that it couldn't have just been smooth sailing for the three of them. With each minute that passed by, Frank could feel Emily start to slip in and out of consciousness. After all, the fighting she had put up against Sal, and the relief of when she finally saw Frank again after presuming that he was dead, it was all starting to take its toll on her.

Emily shifted her gaze from the Chinese to look at Matt and Frank. The two of them seemed to be on edge; not only about having a bunch of automatics pointed at them, but if she had to guess, they were worried about the state she was in. That was the one flaw with her power—she couldn't tell what needed to be done in order to save her own skin. She guessed it was a fail-safe so she wouldn't use it to her advantage—only to help others.

Emily took a deep breath, one that she could manage without causing herself too much pain and returned her gaze to the Chinese. Neither party moved an inch, they just kept sizing the other up—which struck Emily as weird. Generally, the Chinese were a group who shot first and questioned later, but maybe they had direct orders to not shoot the people that came out of the free clinic. Apparently, Matt was thinking the same thing as Emily, but he just decided to voice his opinion.

"So, if you aren't going to shoot and kill us, can we get this girl to the hospital?"

The men that opposed the three of them never faltered, and kept their guns pointed directly towards the three of them. However, some did look over to Emily and try to make out the condition she was in.

"Red, it isn't any use… I can't get to my gun since I am holding Doc… but our only option here may be to suck it up and try to get out of here…"

Emily watched as Matt moved slightly towards Frank as if the two were about to dart away from the scene. She was afraid that if they decided to make a run for it, they would waste their lives for nothing. So, Emily placed a hand on Frank's chest to alert him that she wanted to speak to him. Frank looked down with a slight amount of worry and panic in his eyes—just like a cornered dog. She knew that Frank never wanted to be out of options, but she knew he felt like he had his hands tied in this situation.

"You guys… can't… None of us would make it… Both of your armors can take a few hits… but going up against fifteen automatics is a sure death wish…" Emily tried to whisper.

"She is right; you know…" A strong voice bellowed from the middle of the Chinese foot soldiers.

The three of them turned to see a strong, small, Chinese lady part the enemy like the Red Sea. Both Frank and Matt held their breath knowing all too well who this lady was, and it just depended on her mood, and own personal agenda, if they would get out alive or not. Madame Gao was someone that should not be taken lightly.

"Mr. Castle… and Daredevil… you two have both caused an uproar tonight in Hell's Kitchen… not to mention that you two have caused enough of a disturbance that the police are looking into the matters and I have a feeling that I am going to have to deal with those insolent pests because of the stupidity that you two displayed…"

"Let them go…" Emily said clearly and stubbornly, as her eyes shown with a deep fire that she thought was gone given her weak status.

Madame Gao turned her head to look at the weak girl in Frank's arms. Frank shifted Emily closer to him, trying to take attention away from her. However, instead of wanting to be closer to Frank, Emily started to pull away from him, as if she wanted to be put down.

"I'm not putting you down, Doc. There is no way in hell I am losing you again after coming this far…"

Emily looked up into Frank's eyes and placed her hand back on his chest.

"Please… Frank"

That was all that was needed for Frank to help her place her feet on the pavement and steady her broken body. Emily clutched her side and began walking towards the elderly women, but before she got too far, Frank grabbed a hold of her hand, keeping her from advancing. Emily turned her head and saw the fear written across Frank's face.

"I'm going to be fine, Frank. I promise…"

"How can you promise that—"

Emily just shook her head and removed Frank's hand from her own as she walked on, and stopped right in from of Gao.

"Well, this is a surprising gesture…" Madame Gao stated, as she held up her hand to keep her men from firing upon the woman who was brave enough to approach her.

"You can't… Kill them…"

Madame Gao saw the fire in Emily's eyes, for trying to protect the two men behind her and this sparked sudden interest in her. Enough interest that she would allow the girl to speak and to hear her out.

"And why not, child?"

"Madame… they are here… because of me… Sal Ivanov… The, now late, leader of the Russians… he took me and the two men behind me… where just trying to get me out of here alive…"

Madame Gao raised her eyebrows at this information. Sal was now dead and now she didn't have any competition within the heroin market anymore. However, she never voiced that she was thankful that she didn't have to do any of the dirty work—like she originally planned to do.

"Well, then… Why were you mixed up in all this business then?" Gao simply stated, and then turned her gaze over, past Emily's shoulder to look at the two men behind her before continuing; "I mean Daredevil and the Punisher are not normal people someone like you should be hanging around with…"

Emily smirked at Gao's comment, knowing all full well that she had heard this speech many times before.

"Madame… I know what this may look like… but the men behind me are good men… Not only that, but I know that you wanted Sal out of the way, so you could be the leader in drug exports again…"

Gao threateningly looked at Emily, warning her to make her point before she encroached on a subject matter that would not garner Gao's patience.

"Sal is now gone and I am pretty sure he used the free clinic behind me as one of his export centers… I mean when I worked there, I had to perform a surgery on a little boy's arm and I noticed that there were more drugs in there than any free clinic I have ever seen…"

Watching Emily closely, Gao went over her words and landed on the simplest ones before asking her about it.

"The boy you operated with, was his mom there?"

Emily scrunched her eyebrows together and nodded her head, not understanding why this was important. It didn't really advance the conversation of letting the three of them go. Not to mention that Emily was starting to feel extremely light headed—which was never a good sign.

Madame Gao took her words in and decided to ask her a few more questions before she came to a conclusion she hoped she wouldn't regret.

"What was the boys age?"

"Probably around nine? Give or take a few years?"

"Was his mother there?"

"Yes, she held his hand the entire time she was with him, that I remember clearly as day."

Gao nodded her head and proceeded to ask her final question: "Are you Dr. Emily Crawford?"

* * *

Emily stiffened at the use of her name. She didn't think Madame Gao knew of her, even though she knew of Gao. Her mind was racing a mile a minute and she could only imagine how Matt and Frank were acting. She had turned their actions out since she walked up to Gao and now she didn't know whether or not to respond to the elder in front of her with a truth or a lie.

Hesitantly, Emily spoke her choice: "Yes."

She held her breath and waited for the verdict Gao would lay on the three of them based on her answer. However, she wasn't expecting Gao to wave to her men to put their guns down alerting Emily that the lady in front of her either wanted something from her, or she wanted to thank her; and Emily knew better than to think it was the latter.

"Madame… I know that I am not a registered surgeon anymore… But please… if you have any sort of beef with me… just please… please let the men behind me go…" Emily said glancing down at her feet adverting her gaze.

However, Gao did what Emily wasn't expecting, Gao only wanted to thank the young surgeon in front of her.

"Child, thank you…"

Emily looked up and saw compassion float around in Gao's eyes before the emotion was shut out.

"I… uhh… what?" Emily said shocked by the words coming out of Gao's mouth.

"My niece was that mother who brought in her child… She refused any help from me even though that child is my grandnephew… I knew that his arm was almost impossible to save… but you managed to do that… so thank you, my child. Thank you." Madame Gao said simply, bowing to the woman in front of her.

Emily was speechless, until one of Gao's men coughed and brought Emily back into the present. It was times like these where she realized how small the world actually is.

"Madame… I know that this probably isn't the time to be asking for such things… But I promise that I will not bring you any more trouble… So, would you allow for us to leave?"

Gao stood back up and eyed the girl with a sort-of humor in her eyes. Never once did this child give up on getting the people who were with her to safety. Gao knew that she liked this girl—and that was a large compliment coming from someone like the Madame. She took a deep breath and decided to let the group go.

"Come on, let's go. I know that there is a shipment in there that could be used to our benefit" Gao spoke to her men, who now held up their weapons and started to enter into the building.

Emily stood there in front of the woman, until she felt Frank's hand grip her wrist, pulling her along, leading her away from the elderly woman. Emily turned her head to look at Frank and saw that he had a hard look on his face. She placed a hand on his arm, and the look softened, but was still present on his features.

Emily saw Matt, towards the end of the street, but before the pair of Emily and Frank made it to him, they heard Gao speak again.

"Oh, and Mr. Castle?"

Frank slowed his pace, pushing Emily in front of him to make sure Gao didn't change her mind at the last minute.

"Don't ever put that child through something like this again… People you love, like her, don't deserve to be shoved into the war, people like us have started…"

And with that, Frank resumed his pace, and evidently picked up Emily. Emily would never know, but Frank slightly nodded his head towards the elderly Chinese women in agreeance. Once Emily was safe, he had no intention of putting her through anything like this ever again. Frank cradled Emily's body close to his and picked up running behind Matt, who was now on the phone with Claire; who was directing them to the nearest hospital and voicing that she would be there as soon as she could.

However, somewhere between talking to Gao, being in Franks arms again, and heading to the hospital, Emily lost consciousness before Frank could even push open the doors to the Emergency room.


	34. Chapter 33

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Chapter 33**

 **So we have finally come to the last chapter of this series. Thank you all so much for reading this and don't forget about the epilogue after this chapter and my separate author's note containing details about my new story "Cavatina" which is a Magneto x OC fanfic.**

 **Thank you guys for staying with me and reading this story all the way to the end.**

* * *

 **WickedlyMinx: Well I can't wait for you to read this chapter then!**

 **Lucy:** **Hehe, I'm glad that even after all this time you still love Emily's character :)**

 **Love. Fiction.2016: Thanks!**

 **Alexander676:** **Thank you for enjoying my story and Thank you for all the support. It really means a lot to me that you hold me in such high regard. I hope that you like this next chapter :)**

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Emily woke up to a steady and rhythmic beeping sound. She took a deep breath and stirred, feeling her heavy but numb body. Slowly opening her eyes and blinking away the blurriness she found herself in New York's Presbyterian Hospital—the one that she used to work at. Emily tried to push her body up, but felt a sudden, dull pain radiate through her system.

She looked around the white room and noticed that everything that was there was in the best condition. She could tell that this was the new wing that the hospital had just previously installed. However, if memory served her right, it didn't open until another month or so. Emily shook her head to try and clear the haziness from it, but to no avail. Sighing deeply, Emily reached over and pressed a button on the side of her bed, indicating to the nurse in charge that she needed to see someone.

A few moments passed, and Emily heard a knock on the door. The figure entered the darkened room, and Emily saw that it was no other than her friend Claire. Apparently, there was clear surprise written on her face because Claire responded to her never voiced question.

"I called in a few favors and simply told them that you were in critical condition but had people with you that didn't want the public to know about them. And surprisingly enough, they didn't ask any questions… I guess it is because I told them it was you…and they know how much you have done for this hospital."

Emily smirked at Claire's phrasing knowing all too well that the hospital just wanted Emily to keep quite instead of telling the media that they forced her to work when both her brother and fiancée passed away. Regardless of the circumstances, Emily felt like she could finally take a deep breath.

"So, do you have any idea how much damage your body took?" Claire asked softly, staring down at her hands.

"Not the exact extent, but I knew I was in critical condition by the time I left the warehouse that the Russians occupied…"

"Emily… you were in surgery for sixteen hours… I was in there trying to help out because your injuries were so severe… but you just had so much internal bleeding… they didn't know if you were going to wake up or not…" Claire spoke, looking back up at Emily.

This struck Emily as odd. The last thing that she remembered was simply feeling like she was falling asleep in Frank's arms and she woke up in the sterile and bland hospital room. So, she asked the question that she didn't want to know the answer to.

"How long… How—"

"How long have you've been asleep?"

"Not as long as you may think… this would have been your fourth day. They moved you out of the ICU last night since your body decided to stop fighting with the doctors and start healing."

Emily smiled and blew air out of nose. She was out for a relatively long time, and now she understood as to why her body felt like such a deadweight. It was clumsy because she couldn't use her muscles for four days… not only that, but majority of her body was injured and it was more focused on repairing torn muscles and ligaments then it was in regards to her mobility.

"So, how long am I going to be in here?"

"Well, probably a few more weeks at least… I mean you went through an intensive surgery, had a blood transfusion, and basically you were beaten to an inch of your life—and I'm not exaggerating that Emily."

Emily leaned her head back on the pillow and tried to relax her body knowing that she wasn't going to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

"Remember the time where I used to tell you how to treat your patients and what was wrong with them or what operations to perform on them?"

Claire smiled and nodded, "But the thing is that you're not a surgeon anymore—"

"And you're not technically a nurse," Emily mocked sticking her tongue out at her friend. However, all joking aside, Emily's face turned serious as she picked her head back up and looked to Claire for answers.

"So… I should ask… Is Frank… Is he…"

"He is okay Emily, I promise… His ribs had to be bandaged but he had no broken bones or fractures, he only had a few minor lacerations and needed a few stiches" Claire said tenderly feeling the shift in Emily's tone knowing that this would be one of the things that she would ask her about.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief but she was confused as to why Frank wasn't with her now. Sensing Emily's oncoming question, Claire decided to respond before the question was voiced.

"When he brought you in he wouldn't leave your side. Matt had to physically remove him from the operating room because the doctors were so nervous that they couldn't perform their duties correctly. I'm pretty sure that even behind the glass, the doctors were nervous to make a wrong move because they didn't want to have to face his wrath…"

Emily smiled and nodded her head knowing that was something that Frank would do; especially after what they just went through.

"Anyway, Frank had been by your side morning and night, never leaving you. Frank finally left with some persuasion from Matt, with only the promise that I would be the nurse on call if you woke up and that is where we are now."

"Thank you Claire."

"Thank me when you are back and up on your feet… Don't ever do that again…" Claire huffed but quickly dropped the attitude when she saw Emily extend her arms for a hug.

Claire bent down and hugged Emily close to her, and Emily hugged her back with as much strength as she could muster with her sore body. Emily felt warm water fall on her neck as she realized that Claire was crying. She knew Claire for many years and their friendship had overcome many trials and tribulations. Emily knew that Claire's life wasn't the easiest but she had never known the women in front of her to cry. She was so strong and caring that the release of her emotions like this made Emily realize that her injuries were severe, and that they probably still were. She knew that the medical report that Claire gave her was one that most patients never survived, but it never hit home until she could feel her best friend's hot tears on fall onto her skin.

Claire released Emily and wiped away her tears that were still on her face. Emily smiled at her and the two shared in an emotional bonding moment that was all too rare between the two women.

"See you're making me get all sappy… God I hate crying and getting all sappy…"

"Heh, don't I know it? Remember that guy that came in and lost a bunch of his fingers and you had to repeatedly tell him that he used to have five until he blew his hand up with a firecracker so he was going home with three?"

"Yeah I remember that, he was so pissed off with me."

"That he was, and the best part of the whole thing was that he was mad that you weren't showing him more sympathy. I swear he was more mad about how you weren't worrying about him than he was about having two less fingers."

The two women shared in a laugh until a knock on a door sounded, indicating that someone was about to enter.

"Anyway, I'll leave you alone… I'm sure you want to get caught up with him… I'll go see if I can find the doctor so he can look at your vitals and give you more information."

Emily smiled slightly as Claire left, and where Claire once was, Frank now appeared looking down at Emily's bandaged, but awake form.

* * *

"When was the last time you ate something, let alone went home and showered Frank?"

Both Matt and Frank stood outside on the rooftop of the hospital. Claire and Matt finally could get Frank away from Emily for a few moments to take a break. Emily had already been asleep for four days now and she was finally moved out of intensive care last night. Matt knew why Frank was so worried since there were so many hiccups during that sixteen-hour surgery. Not to mention that they could never know if they patched up all the internal bleeding with Emily until she woke up or not.

"She is going to be fine Frank. The doctor even said that she should be waking up in the next few hours and—"

Matt cut his words short as he got a glimpse of Frank's face, knowing all too well that at this point Frank had already tuned him out. Frank had gotten little to no sleep these past few days since he had been looking after Emily. Every day he willed her to wake up… he needed her to wake up. When he brought her into the hospital, he knew that her condition was bad… but he never would have guessed that she was that close to dying.

The doctors had told him that if he was even a few minutes later than she would probably have had died in his arms. After he was removed from the surgery room, and when the lead surgeon finally came out to talk to him about Emily's condition, the surgeon just said that it was a miracle that she survived all that she did, due to all of her injuries and the amount of blood that she lost. This was the first case that he ever had that someone her size, that received the types of injuries that she received, survived.

"I have to say that I am a little jealous of you Frank…"

Frank came out of his thoughts and looked at Matt.

"What?" Frank said gruffly.

"You don't have to pretend to be someone you're not… You never have to be two people in one body—you are both Frank and the Punisher in one. I don't know how you did it, but you may have found the one person in this world that can accept both sides of you and realized that they are one in the same person. So, don't ever let her go…"

Frank furrowed his eyebrows at Matt's comment but caught on that Matt was finally giving his blessing for Frank to be with Emily. Granted, Frank never wanted it or needed it but he knew that Emily respected Matt and his opinion so he didn't retort given that he was trying to remain calm and keep it together—for her sake.

"So, what are you going to do once she wakes up?"

"What are you getting at here, Red?"

"I mean are you getting the hell out of this shit hole or are you and Emily going to stay in it?"

Frank took a second to consider Matt's question before responding.

"I think I'm finally done Red. I told Doc that I would do whatever she wanted to do, but I think I'm finally going to hang up the suit for her. There are shitbags all over that I want to eliminate… but after what happened to Doc… I think it is finally time for me to move on. If I want to have her in my life I can't keep subjecting her to this… It isn't fair to her."

Matt smirked at Frank's answer knowing that this was probably the last time he would ever see the Punisher on the streets of Hell's kitchen.

"Anyway, before she wakes back up, you may want to check out the street corner of west forty-second and eleventh. I think there is something there that may help you out when you go and meet her… I can hear a shift in her breathing pattern alerting me that she is going to be waking up here soon."

Frank nodded his head at Matt's suggestion but made no indication that he was going to move. So, Matt took the chance and started to leave first. However, just as he was about to jump off the roof top, he spoke his last words to Frank Castle.

"Just keep her safe."

Without hesitation, Frank responded.

"You don't have to tell me that Red. As I said before, I'll die before I let anyone hurt her, let alone again."

* * *

Emily's eyes welled with tears seeing Frank standing there in her hospital room. It was over, everything was finally over. In the same moment that Emily opened up her arms, Frank crossed the room and pulled her close, pressing a hard kiss against the top of her head. Emily squeezed his waist with as much strength as she could gather.

Frank was holding her close with such force that it was starting to hurt her body, but she didn't care. She was finally in Frank's arms and him in hers. It was over, their war with the Russians was finally over. Frank backed out of the embrace slightly, replacing the tight hug with a passionate kiss instead.

He cupped Emily's face and brought his lips to hers, crushing them when they made contact. It wasn't the most romantic kiss that the pair shared, but this one conveyed how eager they both were knowing that the other was finally out of the danger of dying. The kiss was sloppy and wet, but neither cared. They knew that this kiss was the conclusion that they were both seeking—a happy one.

Emily broke the kiss first, since her ribs were screaming at her to take a breath. She softly placed a hand on Frank's chest and pressed back alerting him that she needed air. Frank took in Emily's body, slightly concerned, but before he could ever voice anything, she spoke.

"I'm okay Frank… I'm okay…"

Frank took a deep breath, and if one wasn't listening they wouldn't have been able to hear the unsteadiness of it.

"Frank… look at me…"

Frank turned and looked at Emily and for the first time since she had known the man, his eyes were filled with tears.

"Frank…" Emily said softly, "I'm here… I'm not going anywhere."

Frank just shook his head and pulled Emily back towards him, holding her close. This time Emily allowed herself to melt into Frank as he supported her body.

"I thought… I thought the worst Doc…" Frank whispered into Emily's ear.

"I know Frank… I know… But I'm here and nothing else is going to happen to me I—"

"I love you, Emily… I love you" Frank said simply; cutting off what Emily was saying while burying his face in her hair.

She knew that Frank was a man of few words, and usually those words were ones that were straight and to the point. However, even though this was just a short phrase, Emily knew that Frank meant every word. That these few words carried more meaning than any others he had ever said to her.

The two of them stayed wrapped up in each other, saying compassionate words to the other, until Emily felt something move in Frank's jacket. Emily backed away slowly and gave Frank a curious look. Frank looked where Emily was and realized that he forgot all about what he had in his jacket.

Frank zipped open his leather jacket and pulled out a small puppy and handed the fluffy mass to Emily.

"Hello cutie… where did he find you now?" Emily said while petting the dog but talking to Frank.

"He was left abandoned in a box outside and I know that it may be too soon since Max passed…"

Emily's smile faltered knowing all too well the fate of Max and how he passed away. She took a deep breath and tried to keep the tears at bay.

"However, I just couldn't let this little guy stay outside in the cold… plus I knew that you would—"

"I love him, Frank. Thank you." Emily smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Frank's lips.

She turned her attention to the dog who was happy that a human was petting him, but Emily soon realized that Frank was still watching her.

"What's wrong?"

Frank ran a hand through his hair and deeply sighed. Emily quickly focused her attention on Frank due to his change in demeanor.

"I don't know what you are going to say to this… but this is the best I got…"

Emily watched as Frank took a simple ring out of his jacket pocket and held it up so Emily could see it.

"Emily… I promise—" Frank said stumbling through his words.

"Yes" Emily stated, cutting off Frank.

Frank looked at Emily as she had tears falling down her face and her hands were cupped over her mouth in shock.

"So you'll marry me?"

"Yes Frank… A thousand times yes…"

Frank placed the ring on Emily's finger and the two of them laughed slightly as the ring was a little too big for Emily's finger. Emily pulled Frank in by his collar and kissed him on his lips as Frank wiped away her tears that had fallen.

The two broke away from the kiss and Emily placed her forehead against Frank's.

"I love you, Frank Castle…"

"I love you too, Doc."


	35. Epilogue

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Epilogue**

* * *

Seven Years Later

 _Dear Matthew,_

 _I know it has been a while since we last spoke, but I guess that is for a good reason. I know that things have been chaotic as ever in Hell's Kitchen and I hope you are staying safe as always. I haven't heard from Claire recently, but I know that she has finally set up her own clinic somewhere in Manhattan. She told me that she found her calling—that she wanted to help people with mutant powers like you and myself._

 _I have also heard that you and Foggy made up and started up your joint law firm again. I know it was rough on the both of you when you two were working opposite of each other so it is nice to see that you are back, working together. I have also seen the Daredevil flash across new channels less frequently, and I don't know whether to thank Foggy or Karen, your fiancée, for that._

 _If you are wondering about me, I am doing well. I have picked up some shifts at the local hospital here, helping out in the emergency room when I can. However, with Frank working at the lumber mill as some form of personal repentance, I have not been able to work as much as I want to. However, I do get to spend more time with the kids that way._

 _If you can believe it, little William is already five years old and growing like a weed. His brother, Noah, is not far behind him both in age, at four years, and height. Those two are inseparable wherever they go. Frank and I have finally been able to get them to sleep in their own beds instead of sharing one. Over the past weekend, they both had a soccer game and I swear that even though they were on the same team it seemed like they were trying to keep the ball away from each other more than they were the opposing team. Not only that, but they love chasing Bailey, our dog, around the yard and I'm pretty sure that the dog now knows how to play soccer._

 _Then, there is Charlotte, a true daddy's girl who just turned one about a month ago. It doesn't help that Frank gives her everything she wants—she has him wrapped around her little finger. Frank has never been an over-emotional man, and he would probably be upset with me for telling you this, but the moment that he held Charlotte for the first time, he cried. That was the first, and probably the last time, I will ever see Frank Castle fully cry, tears streaming down his face and everything. I can see it on his face sometimes, that it is hard to be around his children because of how his last family ended up. It is especially present with little Charlotte, but I can tell that Frank loves these kids with every part of his being and I have a feeling that he is finally making peace with what happened to his previous family all those years ago._

 _It may not be all sunshine and daisies at times, but I am the happiest I have ever been. I have three wonderful children that I love, and a man at my side that I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with. There are days when both Frank and I relive some of the dark memories from our days in Hell's Kitchen, but we try to fill our house with as much love as we can; since we first handedly know how easily a loved one can be taken from us._

 _I know that this letter is short, but I am afraid that Frank will be getting home soon and I can only hold off four hungry mouths for dinner for only so long. I will try to find some time soon to write to you, but until then._

 _With Love from Somewhere in North Dakota,_

 _Emily Castle_


	36. Author's Note and New Fanfiction

**The Doctor Will See You Now**

 **Closing Remarks**

* * *

I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all of those who have read this story. It means a lot to me that all of you have loved it and shipped both Emily and Frank together. Not only that, but thank you for sticking with me and reading this through completion. It means a lot to me that each one of you took time out of your day to read this and I just wanted to say **Thank you.** From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Anyway, as promised, my new Magneto x OC fanfiction is up and running and the title of it is called "Cavatina." You can access it by clicking on my penname and looking at the stories I have written. I will try to post the link below, but there will probably be a space in it that y'all have to delete because fanfic is weird about putting in web addresses.

Well, I hope to hear from you all again, especially with my new fanfiction, but if not, thank you again and I hope that wherever life may lead you, it brings you happiness.

* * *

This is a link to "Cavatina":

www. fanfiction .net

/s/12410462/1/

 ** _There are spaces after_ www. , fanfiction. , a space after .net, and a return (the /s/... follows the net) for the rest of the link. _Please delete these spaces_ or else the link will _NOT_ work. This was the only way fanfiction would allow me to post a "link"**

 **Or, just follow the instructions above (with clicking on my penname) and you should be able to access the new fanfiction.**

* * *

With Love,

Lupe


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